


Jeongcheol's Home for Supernatural Children

by chocolatechimkookie



Series: Jeongcheol's Home for Supernatural Children [1]
Category: SEVENTEEN (Band), 방탄소년단 | Bangtan Boys | BTS
Genre: Alpha Choi Seungcheol | S.Coups, Alternate Universe - Supernatural Elements, Angel Yoon Jeonghan, Brothers soonwoo, Dragon Hybrid Kwon Soonyoung | Hoshi, Established Choi Seungcheol | S.Coups/Yoon Jeonghan, Foster Parents Seungcheol and Jeonghan, Gen, Half-angel Half-demon Lee Chan | Dino, Kid Seventeen, Kitsune Lee Jihoon | Woozi, Mated Jeongcheol, Mentioned Emotional Manipulation, Minor Character Death, Multi, Nereid Jeon Wonwoo, OT13 - Freeform, Past Child Abuse, Shapeshifter | Kim Mingyu, Supernatural Elements, Werewolf Seungcheol, Werewolf | Choi Hansol, cute babby seventeen, hansol is a precious babby that needs more love, i love angst and pain, married jeongcheol, seungcheol finally has the wolf baby he's always wanted woohoo
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-12-26
Updated: 2019-02-03
Packaged: 2019-02-22 02:54:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 18
Words: 56,958
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13157745
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chocolatechimkookie/pseuds/chocolatechimkookie
Summary: Seungcheol promised we'd stop at five but here we are with an entire football team and-"PUT THAT DOWN SOONYOUNG! Oh god please don't poke it you'll make it worse- STOP HISSING AT YOUR BROTHER JIHOON! Minghao don't-"-and I guess it's my turn to call the firemen(aka Seungcheol and Jeonghan are the only foster home in the district that can handle the Other supernaturals so that means a hell of a lot of kids under one roof but they really wouldn't have it any other way)





	1. Jihoon

**Author's Note:**

  * For [momodanik](https://archiveofourown.org/users/momodanik/gifts).



** Year 1, January 21st **

**Whoever said that baby foxes were small wee beans were very much mistaken, but Jihoonie is still cute though so that makes up for it, I guess.**

 

“Do you think he’s adjusting well? What if he can’t fall asleep in a new place so fast and-“ 

Jeonghan cuts him off before he can continue on with his nervous, stress induced ramble. Seungcheol can’t help it though; Doyoon had been with them since they’d started this whole foster care shebang and watching him go off to live with his new family (who will all love and care for him very much, Jeonghan likes to remind) had done quite a number of Seungcheol’s already fragile and delicate heart. 

He opens his mouth to protest further (or start crying, whichever comes first) but Jeonghan holds up a hand to silence him. Seungcheol doesn’t know who his husband is trying to fool, he’d been the one to burst into loud, ugly sobs first when they saw off Doyoon that afternoon, the evidence of the act clearly seen in the faint red rim around his pupils and swollen puffiness of the face the angel took so much pride in. 

The other male clears his throat. “We knew what we were getting into when we took him in, Cheol, and we’ve seen just how much his new family adores him so there’s really no reason to be upset whatsoever.” 

The statement is partially true. When social services had first brought Doyoon to them as a tiny little 5 year old with his little floppy ears and bright puppy eyes, they’d already known in advance that there’d been a family waiting to adopt him and that he’d only be staying with them for a few months while all the paperwork and legal matters were sorted. 

That hadn’t stopped the two of them from falling absolutely in love with the young puppy hybrid though, especially in Seungcheol’s case, being of the canine category himself, he’d grown almost immediately attached to the child the day he’d been brought to them. In fact, the only thing that had been stopping them from applying to adopt him themselves had been the minuscule fact that he already had another family waiting for him, and both Seungcheol and Jeonghan knew very much the importance of family. 

Being the only foster home for Other children within the entire province and then some led to quite a number of Other children being dropped off with them despite an already maxed out house capacity, but the two of them had never and would never reject a child that needed them. And that had applied to Doyoon as well. 

Seungcheol sighs loudly and buries his nose in the crook of his husband’s neck, inhaling the angel’s unique scent intertwined with his own. Jeonghan strokes the top of his head slowly, ruffling the dark strands of hair just the way he knew Seungcheol liked. The house was so quiet now, too quiet; it was suffocating. “I miss him, Hannie, why couldn’t he stay just a little while longer…” 

Jeonghan doesn’t reply, instead continuing to gently pet his mate’s hair, soothing the werewolf’s petulant pouting. 

“It’s so quiet, Hannie,” Seungcheol whines, nuzzling further into Jeonghan’s shoulder. He parts his lips to nibble lightly at the exposed skin, the corners of his lips lifting ever so slightly at the faintly rough ridges of the bite mark he’d left there so many years ago. “Hannie, I want more kids.” 

“Doesn’t having more kids here with us mean that there are more kids coming from bad situations?” Jeonghan reasons, shifting to a more comfortable position to not squish his wings with Seungcheol still attached to his neck like a rather overgrown, vaguely more furry leech. “So if you think about it, it just means that there aren’t more kids that need us because they’re all out there with good families, right Cheol?”

His husband pulls away from his claimed spot on Jeonghan’s neck, an exaggeratedly dramatic pout on his lips. “I really hate when you’re being the reasonable one in this relationship.”

Jeonghan snorts. “Well all these years must have been a real shit fest for you then, seeing as how I’ve always been the mature one between the two of us.” 

“Not when you’re demanding for rocky road ice cream at 2am you’re not,” Seungcheol mutters beneath his breath, stretching his arms up above his head and groaning as a few of his joints popped back into their respective places. “But let’s talk seriously for a second here.” 

Seungcheol’s aura is a faint blue-grey of nervousness that flickers towards and away from his body, an indecisive mass of colour that seems to bleed into Jeonghan’s own aura and make his heart pick up speed a little as Seungcheol stares into his eyes, the dark irises full of an unreadable intent. “What’s wrong, Cheol?”

“I think maybe it’s time we actually think about really adopti-“

A loud ringing sound broke the heavy silence of the house, cutting through the strange awkward tension between them. Jeonghan jerks up from the couch and scurries over to where he’d left his phone on the kitchen island, his chest tightening at the familiar contact number on the screen. 

He swipes to answer the call and holds the phone up to his ear. Seungcheol is mouthing to him a slurry of questions though the most distinct one would be the ‘ _Who is it?_ ’ that forms on his lips, eyebrows raised in curiosity. Some angels were known for having precognitive abilities though Jeonghan was certainly not one of them, but he would admit to having had a strange feeling sitting right at the base of his ribcage all day since they’d said their goodbyes to Doyoon. He’d been quick to play it off as sadness over the loss of one of their favourite foster kids thus far, but as he hears the words coming from the speakers of his phone he wonders if he does in fact have some of those abilities after all. 

“Jeonghan-ssi? Sorry to disturb you so late at night but we have a new little boy for you, we’d keep him with us for the night but we feel he’d be better off staying with you and Seungcheol-ssi,” Kim Seokjin’s voice had always been rather calming to Jeonghan (possibly due to his veela blood), however the words themselves right now were certainly not. It was never good to get a child in the middle of the night, and Seungcheol and Jeonghan usually picked up their new kids from the social services office in the mornings or, at the latest, tea time.

Night time pick ups meant bad situations, and children from bad situations meant it would be that much harder for him and Seungcheol to get them to trust them and to behave. He’d heard stories from other foster parents in the area about how difficult children from bad pasts acted when they came to them, though he uses the term ‘stories’ lightly as they in truth really just consist of a lot of grumbling and complaining about tantrums and messes. 

Jeonghan always found it hard to bite his tongue during those sorts of conversations because really, they were just taking care of the _human_ children. 

 _Other_ children? 

Well that’s a whole different issue right there. 

The number of times he’s had to fight the urge to tell Mrs. Jang from two blocks down with her stupid ‘can-I-speak-to-the-manager’ haircut and fake Gucci handbag about dealing with tantrums when said tantrum is coming from a child that can vomit _literal acid_ so that she can shut up about tracking muddy footprints into the living room for _one second_ , so _help_ him. 

Seungcheol has resumed his pouting as Jeonghan hums in response to Seokjin on the phone, the latter having breathed out a loud sigh of relief upon Jeonghan’s confirmation that yes, they’d be able to take in the boy tonight no worries. 

“Thank god, we were so worried we’d have to keep him with us for the night you wouldn’t  even believe. I tried calling Seungcheol-ssi like 5 times but he didn’t pick up so I thought maybe you two were busy or _busy_ -“

Jeonghan covers the receiver of the phone with his hand and glares over at his husband, ignoring the puppy eyes the elder pulls out in favour of lecturing him instead. “You left your phone in your jeans pocket again, didn’t you! What have I said about that? The last time we ended up throwing it into the washing machine and you got yourself a very shiny, fresh-cotton-breeze scented, _non-functional_ phone!” 

Seungcheol shrinks into himself at the scolding and his bottom lip sticks out even further, the sight tugging at Jeonghan’s heartstrings despite himself. 

He returns to his call. “Sorry, Seokjin-ssi, you were saying?” 

The veela clears his throat, the sound about maybe 20% actual bodily need and 70% offence, the remaining percentage a mixture of dramatic flair and just Kim Seokjin himself. “I was _saying_ , Jeonghan-ssi, that the boy you’re getting is about two years old and he’s a kitsune, so I hope you have a fox-proof room in your house somewhere because you’re going to need it,” Jeonghan spares a second to mouth the name at Seungcheol who, by now has retrieved his phone, and quickly researches up on the species so they’d be at least a little prepared. 

They’d been fine with Doyoon and foxes were certainly a lot less excitable than puppies, right? 

“Hoseok and Yoongi and Seulgi will be at your place shortly to drop them off so be ready for them. Again, so, so sorry to bother you so late, we wouldn’t do it if there were better options.” 

“What about his background?” Seungcheol whispers into his other ear, having come up behind him to try and listen in on the conversation a minute or two ago. Jeonghan repeats the question to Seokjin and feels a seed of dread in his belly at the prominent beat of silence that follows it. 

Seokjin sighs once again. “His mother was a nine-tailed kitsune which is quite rare to find nowadays, and apparently there’s a rumour going around about them bringing luck to whoever possesses it,” Jeonghan passes the phone to Seungcheol who turns on the speakerphone, the seed of dread having sprouted into full bloomed nausea inducing horror as he guesses Seokjin’s next words. “Some black market hunters broke into their den and killed her right in front of her son, cut her tail off and everything, would have gotten the boy too if some neighbours hadn’t spotted them and called the police.” 

Jeonghan presses a fist against his mouth, tasting bile acidic and painful at the back of his throat. 

Seungcheol seems equally as sickened but manages to keep his voice steady enough to speak. “You said den, did they live in the forest region?” 

“Yes, they spent most of their time in their fox form so don’t be too shocked when you first see him, I’m sure he’s a _sweet_ boy.” 

The look he sends Jeonghan tells him enough: they’ll love him regardless. 

 

* * *

 

Seungcheol is pulling open the door of the car before Yoongi can even kill the engine, peering into the dark car impatiently. However his previous fluttery, excited mood dying immediately as he catches sight of what lies within it. Instead, now all he feels is hot, bubbling anger. 

“What the _hell_ do you people think you’re doing?” he bites out, just about ready to pull the cowering boy out of his seat and use him to mow their lawn because that’s obviously the only use he has seeing as what he’s done. 

Jung Hoseok is a bumbling mess of terror pheromones and long scratches up his arms and neck as he stares up at Seungcheol, pupils dilated in fear at the sight of the furious werewolf. “W-w-we had no choice! He went feral and was injuring everyone at the office and-“ 

“That doesn’t give you the right to put a little boy in a _cage_!” 

His loud outburst draws Jeonghan over from where he’d been waiting by the door, trying to regain some of his energy after running around the house to get everything ready for their new child’s arrival. The angel’s eyes glint with the same wrath Seungcheol can feel in his own veins as he sees the metal cage in the seat beside Hoseok, the tiny figure cowering behind the bars sinking a red hot knife straight into Seungcheol’s heart. 

“What is wrong with you!” Jeonghan shouts, wings twitching threateningly behind him, with Hoseok obviously having gotten the hint as he scurries out of his seat to allow the two of them access to the cage inside. Seungcheol leans inside to unclip the buckle they’d fastened around it to keep it from slipping off, pulling it out even as his stomach twists painfully at the sight of the fox cub whining sorrowfully inside. 

Seulgi at least has the decency to look a little ashamed, staring down at her shoes as Jeonghan glares at them accusingly. Yoongi however stares straight at them, face expressionless as he explains. “The boy was going feral when the cops picked him up, none of us could control him or get him to shift to human form and he was biting and scratching anyone within reach, we had no other choice.” 

“A _cage_? Are you seriously telling me that was your only option!” 

In the time that Jeonghan takes to scold the social service workers, Seungcheol sets the cage down on their lawn and is about to open it when Hoseok grabs at his wrist to stop him. “You should do that inside the house, in case he makes a run for it while we’re out here.” 

Seungcheol purses his lips, not liking the idea of keeping the poor boy inside the cold metal cage for even a second longer but also understanding Hoseok logic. He looks up at Jeonghan and jerks his head towards the house, picking up the cage and making his way towards it, not quite caring exactly what his husband decided to do with the three workers but feeling extremely willing to help hide any bodies if necessary. 

“I’m honestly absolutely disgusted with you three and don’t think I won’t be calling Seokjin to report this-“

“He’s the one that got Jihoon into the cage.” 

“ _Excuse_ me?”

“Hannie, close the door, I’m going to get him out.” 

The moment the cage door is opened, as Hoseok had warned, the little kitsune darts out and tries to make a run for it, though his legs are still wobbly and weak from being scrunched up in the cage and he doesn’t get very far before collapsing right on their hard wood floor, his soft, laboured breaths echoing like thunder in the silence of the house. Hoseok flinches back to stand behind Yoongi, the angry red scratches along his arms testament enough as to why. 

Seungcheol hurries over to the collapsed kitsune and picks him up, holding him to his chest despite the child’s weak struggles. All of the fighting Yoongi had mentioned must have taken a toll on him, Seungcheol guesses, the struggles growing weaker and weaker the longer Seungcheol persists. “You mentioned a name, Jihoon, was it?” 

Seulgi nods, pulling her phone out of her pocket and turning it on. “His name is Lee Jihoon, he’s currently two years old and he’s a pure blooded kitsune, his other relevant health and legal information will be emailed to you by Seokjin some time tomorrow but otherwise he’s been given the okay by our paediatrician and doesn’t have any known food allergies registered but we’ll check on that once the relevant tests come back to us and inform you.” 

Jeonghan is continuing to grill the three on whatever else they might need to know to take care of the boy but Seungcheol couldn’t care less right now, that would all have to wait for later. All he could see was the slow rise and fall of the cub's chest, the snowy white fur slightly muddy and dirty but still gleaming under the warm yellow lights of their living room. 

His chest clenches as he spots the light spray of dark red along with the kitsune side, willing himself not to start crying as he imagines this small, frail little thing watching his own mother be murdered right in front of him. He doesn’t realise his hold has tightened until the fox yelps and sinks his tiny teeth into Seungcheol’s forearm deep enough to draw blood. 

Despite the stinging pain that the bite brings, Seungcheol forces himself not to jerk away, instead running a finger gently along the top of the cub's head to try and coax him to let go on his own. Eventually he feels the jaw clamped down on him relax every so slightly and he’s able to pull his arm away, wincing at the feeling of blood trickling down the skin of his arm. Jihoon looks up at him with huge glinting silvery blue  eyes, blinking slowly as he stares intently at Seungcheol.  

“Cheol! You’re bleeding!” Jeonghan exclaims, shutting the front door behind him after he shooed out the social service workers. Seungcheol holds a finger up to his lips to silence the fretting angel, not pausing in his petting of the child in his arms. Eventually he feels the cub slump into his hold, head resting in the crook of his elbow and breath fanning over his skin. 

Jeonghan has come to kneel down beside the two of them, his eyes wide and amazed at the sight of Seungcheol cradling the kitsune like he would a baby, the lithe frame of the fox completely encompassed by the thick muscle cording Seungcheol’s arms. “He’s so small,” Jeonghan whispers, trying not to wake the now sleeping child. “Should he be so small? All the pictures online made them seem a lot bigger.” 

Just before the social workers had arrived to deliver Jihoon to them, Seungcheol and Jeonghan had taken the liberty to look up some of the habits and behaviours of kitsune children, as well as some pictures and statistics. The average size of a kitsune cub at this age should be a lot bigger, and Seungcheol can’t help but wonder why exactly this boy is so much smaller than he should be. 

“Maybe it was just the pictures,” he replies, trying not to jostle the sleeping Jihoon in his arms as he stands up to bring the boy to the room they’d set up for him earlier. 

“Do you think he should sleep alone tonight? What if he wakes up all alone and he’s scared? What if he tries to get out of the house while we’re asleep?” Jeonghan pushes open the door to the room and steps aside to allow Seungcheol to pass, his expression concerned and sad. 

Seungcheol doesn’t breathe as he sets the kitsune down in the crib, the fitted sheet over the mattress freshly changed by his mate and smelling of sweet, clean cotton. “We have some mattresses in the storeroom we can take out, we’ll just take turns watching him,” he says once Jihoon is safely out of his arms, turning to Jeonghan with a tired smile. 

His husband’s gaze flickers down to the already partially healed wound on his arm (thanks to his werewolf healing speed) and his concern is evident as his scent leaks more prominently before and his wings flutter behind him agitatedly. “You go and clean that up first, I’ll watch Jihoonie,” Jeonghan says, sitting himself down on the ground beside the crib and staring at the unmoving figure. “Bring a towel and some water too, we can try and get some of the dirt and blood off now while he’s asleep in case he’s too finicky tomorrow to let us bathe him.” 

He nods, speeding towards the bathroom in their bedroom to clean and disinfect the bite, filling a small tub he’d gotten from under the sink with water as he douses his wound in antiseptic. Being foster parents to Other children meant lots of accidents, both on the children themselves _and_ Jeonghan and Seungcheol, so Jeonghan always made sure to replenish any decreased stock in their medicine cabinet regularly. 

If he nearly trips and drenches the walls in water on the way back to Jihoon’s new room no one will ever know. 

“Here you go, Hannie.” 

The water goes from clear to a dark murky brown within minutes as Jeonghan works on cleaning most of the grime from Jihoon’s fur, Seungcheol gently lifting the boy up for the angel to get the parts he couldn’t reach when required. His mate’s breath catches in his throat as he comes across the smattering of blood on the white fur, but his hands don’t even hesitate to dip back into the water Seungcheol had just changed to wipe at the dark red stains. 

Seungcheol hates how red the water has turned but neither him nor Jeonghan break the silence as they finish cleaning Jihoon up. The boy hadn’t even stirred throughout the entire process, a sure tell as to how tired he must have been from the day’s ordeal. 

“Are you hungry? I can make us a quick sandwich while you watch Jihoonie,” Jeonghan dries his hands off on his pants and asks, though his focus isn’t on Seungcheol but instead is gazing down fondly at the now clean and white cub. 

The hunger gnawing at his stomach hadn’t been noticeable until Jeonghan mentioned it, his concentration having been dedicated solely to the new occupant of their house. The air that had been still and silent just hours before was now filled with the sound of Jihoon’s soft breaths and snores, and despite the circumstances Seungcheol couldn’t help but feel the void in his heart fill with warmth as stared at their new child. 

Doyoon had gone on to live with a good family that would love him dearly, so it was now Seungcheol and Jeonghan’s job to love this new baby boy as much as they possibly could until he could do the same. 

Seungcheol leans his head against his husband’s shoulder, once again breathing in his comforting scent though now in a much different context than earlier on. “Yeah, that’d be great, could I have extra cheese, please?” 

Soft lips press delicately against his own and he feels Jeonghan smile into the kiss as Seungcheol places a hand on Jeonghan’s back, being careful not to press on his wings. The angel knew how to hide his wings away when they were out or when they were sleeping (following several incidents involving rolling, a pair of glasses and ice cream), but when they were just toddling about at home he liked to have them free. 

The kiss doesn’t last for nearly long enough before Jeonghan is pulling away, brushing his lips over his husband’s one last time before turning on his heels to go make them their sandwiches. Seungcheol lets himself sulk for a good five seconds, taking Jeonghan’s earlier spot next to the crib to watch the sleeping cub, taking comfort in the way his chest rose and fell steadily in his slumber. 

Non-parents wouldn’t understand it, but watching their kids sleep had always been one of Seungcheol and Jeonghan’s favourite things to do, relishing in the slight smiles of good dreams and being ready to comfort the tears of bad ones. 

He was really loathe as to how often the latter of the two happened, but with most foster children it was a given from the start. Doyoon himself had suffered from a good two months of almost daily night terrors, though Seungcheol is a little ashamed to admit that he hadn’t been present for most of it due to the increased workload of his new job at the time. 

It’s all good and settled now; the pay is good and enough to support him and Jeonghan as well provide their children with whatever they desire outside of the care funds provided by the government, and that’s all they could really ask for. Seungcheol slips a finger between the bars of the crib, poking gingerly at Jihoon’s teeny little paw, not even fighting the smile that slips onto his face at the soft texture. 

The painted white wooden bars of the crib made him hesitate for a second, wondering if they would seem too much like that bloody cage the social office had stuck him in when Jihoon woke up. The mated pair had made a decision before starting this whole foster care business to not let any of the kids sleep in their bed with them, just as way to keep the children from getting too used to it and for them to not grow too attached. 

And not for the first time since setting up that rule, Seungcheol felt ever so tempted to break it. It wouldn’t hurt to have Jihoon sleep with them in their room, right? Just for tonight? He’s about to direct these questions towards his husband when the angel returns to the room with two plates in his hand, a grilled cheese sandwich sitting neatly on each. 

It’s at moments like these that Jeonghan really looks like an angel come down from heaven. 

On other days Seungcheol questions if the white wings were a lie and he had risen from hell instead because there is _no way_ any sort of heavenly being should be so devilish in demeanour. 

“Extra cheese, as requested, husband of mine,” Jeonghan hands him the plate and throws in a kiss on the forehead as a freebie, earning him a bright, gummy smile from his puppy-like husband in return. “Need anything else before I sit down and get comfortable and not move again in the foreseeable future?” 

Seungcheol shakes his head but pauses, glancing over at Jihoon briefly. “Can’t he sleep with us tonight, Hannie? What if the crib looks too much like a cage for him when he wakes up and he’s scared?” 

Jeonghan sighs. “Cheol we’ve talked about this…”

“I know I know but…” he gestures vaguely towards Jihoon’s adorably snoring form, “just look at him, Hannie, he’s so precious it just makes me feel like squishing him and-”

A pained whine breaks his train of thought and both him and Jeonghan snap their heads to look at the source, panicked. Jihoon doesn’t appear to have woken up but is squirming around in his sleep, thin limbs shivering and twitching as he continues to whimper and cry and break their hearts. 

Although fox is a little different to understand than wolf, Seungcheol can still understand the tone behind the cries, his own inner alpha nudging at him to _protect_ and _comfort_ the distressed pup. He lets out his own low whine and stares up desperately at Jeonghan who is looking rather distressed himself if the stray feathers on the floor by his feet are anything to go by. 

In fact, Seungcheol can see the exact moment the angel’s resolve breaks as he leans over the crib to scoop the still crying Jihoon up into his arms, cradling him close to his body as he brings him to their room and settles him in the middle of the bed. Seungcheol crawls beneath the covers beside the cub and curls his form around him protectively, his husband doing the same on the opposite side. 

“Just one night,” Jeonghan whispers, interlocking his fingers with Seungcheol’s. He nods in response, though judging by the way Jeonghan’s gaze actually melts at the sight of the cub now sleeping calmly between them, he guesses they won’t be keeping their promise after all. 

 

* * *

  

“Please, Jihoonie, you need to eat something for dinner, please?” Jeonghan pleads, cheek pressed to the ground as he tries to lure Jihoon out from his hiding spot under the sofa with a bowl of finely ground meat and some milk that he’d prepared. It’s been three days since he came to stay with them, and so far Jeonghan is convinced that he hates him. 

He’d given Jeonghan a really nasty scratch down his forearm the first morning he woke up in their bed before scurrying off to hide beneath the nearest possible object, refusing to shift to human form to bathe or eat or anything. In fact, Jeonghan had found himself looking up the differences between kitsune and regular foxes just to make sure those bumbling buffoons at social services hadn’t screwed up somehow and bought them an actual fox cub instead. 

It turned out he was indeed a kitsune but Jeonghan still had his doubts. 

“Jihoonie? Please? Just this once? You didn’t eat anything at all today and if you keep it up you won’t be able to grow big and strong, _please_?” Jeonghan ordinarily refused to stoop down to any degree of begging, but with stubborn kitsune cubs he soon found out that desperation was a very strong force. 

“Hannie, I’m home- What are you doing on the ground?” the stress of being unable to feed his new child hits the bursting point in him as Jeonghan felt tears welling up in the corners of his eyes, relief flooding him at the sight of his handsome, reliable, and most importantly, liked-by-Jihoon husband. “Oh baby what’s wrong, is Hoonie okay?”

The bowl of food shakes in his weak hold, Jeonghan feeling a wave of shame wash over him at being unable to care for their child. “Please help me get Jihoonie to eat, he hasn’t eaten anything all day and he refuses to come out and I don’t know what to do and-“

He really hates crying because of how puffy it makes his face but turns out stress is a great inducer. 

“Hey hey hey, it’s okay, it’s not your fault, why don’t you go and take a nice hot shower to calm yourself down while I sort this out, alright Hannie?” Seungcheol soothes, helping him to his feet and pressing a chaste kiss to his cheek. “Hoonie and I are gonna have a nice long talk, man to man, canine to canine, all the good stuff.” 

Jeonghan sniffles wetly, dabbing at the wetness streaking his cheeks with the sleeve of his sweater. “Are you insinuating I’m not a man?” 

“You’re my angel.” 

“I’ll accept that.” 

Seungcheol smiles, crinkly eyed and full of pearly white teeth. “Don’t worry, Hannie, I got this.” 

When he returns from his shower, fresh faced and feeling a lot better now that the grime and frustrations of the day were all washed off, Jeonghan isn’t sure whether to actually feel surprised at the sight of Seungcheol in his large wolf form licking the head of a much smaller Jihoon, now finally out from under the couch. The kitsune cub is licking daintily at the bowl of milk, not even letting out so much as a hiss as Seungcheol continues to groom him. 

Jeonghan would have scoffed in disbelief had he not been so relieved that Jihoon was finally eating something, and judging by the ravenous way he devours the bowl of meat he must have really been starving. 

Jihoon sniffs at the air and turns to look at Jeonghan with narrowed, suspicious eyes. body tensing up and ready to flee back to the safety of under the sofa. Seungcheol lets out a low, rumbling growl that has Jihoon’s ears pinning back to his head, whining softly in reply. He feels so out of place, standing awkwardly by the doorway and watching his mate scold their new son in whatever language they’re conversing in, trying not to make any sudden movements in case it sends Jihoon fleeing. 

The dark amber eyes of his husband meet his, head quirking towards the fox cub as if beckoning him closer and Jeonghan stands there wondering just how to convey how much of a terrible idea that is because the kid obviously hates him without making too much noise and scaring said kid off. With a few more pointed head jerks and narrow-eyed stares, Jeonghan finally gathers the courage to take a few steps forward towards the pair, head bowed low and palms visible just like in the video he’d watched about dealing with kitsune cubs. 

It obviously hadn’t worked before but Jeonghan was not taking chances here. 

Seungcheol uses his giant muzzle to nudge Jeonghan’s hand towards Jihoon’s head, completely oblivious to the state of conflict and utter terror his husband was in. Jeonghan doesn’t breathe until he feels soft velvet beneath his palm, the kitsune still not completely relaxed but not running away either, which Jeonghan would happily classify as a win on his part. 

“Jihoonie? I know you’re scared and you miss your mother, but Seungcheol and I will take care of you from now on, we promise, we won’t let anything hurt you ever again,” he pauses to let Seungcheol translate his speech into a mixture of low grumbles and whines, Jihoon looking at him intently with those big blue eyes of his all the while. “It would be helpful if you could shift to human form so we can bathe you and clean you up nicely, and if you want to shift back afterwards that’s perfectly fine, you can do whatever you want.”

In a brief spurt of bravery, Jeonghan kneels down until he’s at near eye level with the cub, determinedly not breaking their stare. “Let us take care of you, okay Jihoonie? We want to love you, will you let us?”  

Before Seungcheol can even finish with his series of grumbles Jihoon is gone, scrambling back under the couch and knocking over the bowl of milk in his hurry. Jeonghan feels his chest cave in, disappointment flooding him so strongly he almost feels like screaming in frustration (but doesn’t, because he knows that would only frighten Jihoon even more). And they’d been doing so well too…

His mate dives under the sofa as well, his bottom half sticking well out as he tries his best to get as close to the hiding cub as possible. Jeonghan is about to tell Seungcheol to just give up and try again tomorrow now that the boy at least has a little bit of food in him when Seungcheol bumps his head on the wooden slats in his hurry to get back out, a dust bunny stuck adorably to his right ear as he grins up at Jeonghan. 

Seungcheol quickly moves to the back of the couch, gesturing for Jeonghan to move it aside. Jeonghan sighed exasperatedly. “I’ve tried that, Cheol, it doesn’t work, he just finds somewhere else to hide and…“ 

The loud howl his husband lets out has him trailing off, completely and utterly shocked. Seungcheol wasn’t usually this vocal in his wolf form around him, typically communicating with head butts and whining. 

Deciding to humour him, Jeonghan pushes the couch out and away from the wall, revealing Jihoon’s hiding pla-

“Oh my god.” 

Lying on the ground where Jeonghan had stared at Jihoon cowering against for most of the day was no longer a snowy white kitsune cub, the chubby red cheeks and sleepy, squinted eyes of a toddler greeting him instead. The smattering of hair on his head was a snowy white, his eyes still a silvery blue. He had a single fluffy white tail extending from his tailbone, and the appendage had curled itself protectively around Jihoon’s middle. 

Overall, he was a very, very cute child and Jeonghan felt even more enamoured with him than he was before. 

Seungcheol was beaming up at him (or as much as a wolf could, really) as he picked the wriggling naked toddler off of the ground, holding him securely to his chest to not drop him. Even in human form he seemed a lot smaller than some of the other children this age that had come to stay with them before, but Jeonghan was sure he could find some clothes that would fit him in their stores. 

If it were even possible, he felt his heart melt even more as Jihoon’s little, little mouth parts in a yawn, his eyes scrunching up adorably as the cutest sound he’s possibly _ever_ heard leaves his lips. Unable to resist the strong, affectionate maternal urge that came over him, he leans his head down to press a soft kiss to the boy’s forehead, breathing in the smell of _babies_ that he so absolutely adores. 

“Come on baby boy, let’s get you cleaned up and ready for bed.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I came to the very terrible realisation that there weren't enough kid seventeen fics circling about the old web so I decided to write my own. But obviously I couldn't keep it sweet and simple so we have this spiralling mess. This is my first fic posted in this fandom but I am a long veteran reader so let's all get along friends. 
> 
> Warnings:  
> \- this will include cute fluffy little seventeen babies in a way that might or might not make you die from cuteness who knows  
> \- be prepared
> 
> Tags will be added as more kids are introduced ;) 
> 
> Enjoy~


	2. Dad vs Milk

**Year 1, June 4th**

**Jihoon refuses to drink milk unless fed in a very specific way but it’s fine since pride isn’t something a man needs anyways.**

 

_No_. He shall not succumb to pouting. He is the number one pouter in this house, pouting does not affect him, even if it’s from his adorable, beloved kitsune baby, no sir. 

Jihoon’s lower lip trembles and Seungcheol forces himself to grip the milk bottle tighter. “No, Hoonie, you know you need to drink your milk to grow up nice and big and strong, you’re too tiny right now and the doctor said you needed more nutrients for better growth and- Oh don’t look at me like that please, I know you hate the milk but you just gotta do it, okay? For me?” 

The kitsune has always been much too tiny, even from the first night they’d seen him they had known that his small size wasn’t quite right, though it took a trip to the doctors to confirm it. Apparently Jihoon and his mother had lived in a more uninhabited part of the forest to avoid detection from hunters, and there obviously hadn’t been sufficient food and nutrition of the little boy which resulted in his stunted growth. 

Seungcheol likes to believe that he’ll hit puberty at a good, ripe age and shoot up ’til he’s taller than him and Jeonghan but at the rate this whole milk business is going he’s rapidly losing hope. 

In fact, he’s not sure if his previous little speech (read: begging) had even managed to get to the boy, seeing as how his speech and language skills was still severely underdeveloped for his age. This, again, had been a result of living in his fox form for the majority of his yet short life, and though Seungcheol knew he should be working on teaching him to talk there was just so many other more important things to teach him first. 

Like potty training.   
Yes, that was extremely important. 

“Look, Hoonie,” he mimes putting the sucker of the bottle into his mouth and drinking it, “mmmm, so yummy, Hoonie.” 

Jihoon looks much too sceptical for a two year old and continues to stare at Seungcheol with those pleading blue eyes, pouting at the thought of having to drink that (what Seungcheol imagines he thinks) ‘horrid, gloopy white thing’. 

“Please Hoonie? You don’t want to stay small forever, do you?” 

The narrow-eyed toddler glare Jihoon gives him tells him the kitsune doesn’t mind that in the slightest. 

Seungcheol sighs, finally giving in and pulling out the big guns. He lifts Jihoon out of his high chair and places him on the floor, giving his silvery white hair a ruffle. He removes Jihoon of the little _‘I’m the product of one_ foxy _couple’_ onesie that Jeonghan had found all too amusing to dress him in that morning and takes off his diaper as well (thanking his lucky stars and resident angel that it’s clean), leaving the kitsune naked on the hard wood floor of the kitchen. 

“Come on Hoonie, fox form, you know you wanna…” and he does, judging by how quickly the familiar chubby face of his favourite baby boy disappears and is replaced by the fluffy muzzle of his fox form. “That’s a good boy,” he praises, shedding his own clothes and mentally preparing himself for the complete murder of his pride in the next few minutes. 

He gives himself a quick shake as he gets into his wolf form, rolling out his haunches and licking over Jihoon’s head to groom him. Jihoon yips sharply, which Seungcheol can roughly interpret as either a “Stop it, Appa, gross!” or a “Stop it, Appa, toast!”, but he’s not too sure which because they both sound pretty darn legit to him. 

The abandoned milk bottle is picked up easily in his mouth as he positions it on top of a pillow he pulls off from the couch (which Jeonghan will skin him for later, surely), making sure to get it at _just_ the _right_ _height_. He shapes his body above and around the pillow and bottle combo so the sucker of the bottle is sticking out right where his belly is, and in turn, where his nipples would be if he were an omega. 

Yes, that’s right. This is what he’s come to now. The sacrifices a father will make for his children. 

Almost immediately, as if completely forgetting his earlier resistance to the aforementioned ‘horrid, gloopy white thing’, Jihoon scurries over to lie beside Seungcheol on his belly, tiny mouth wide open and hungry. Seungcheol feels the cold tip of Jihoon’s nose against the sensitive skin of his underside as the kitsune grabs onto the sucker of the bottle to drink, sucking out the last traces of Seungcheol’s pride along with the milk.  

The worst thing? Seungcheol doesn’t even feel all that embarrassed. No, all that jazz about pride and ego just seems so extremely insignificant in the face of the relief he feels that Jihoon is finally drinking the nutrient filled milk the doctor had prescribed for him, even if he has to pretend to feed him like a litter mother would. 

“Cheol! I’m back from the store! Where are you and Jihoonie hiding?” he hears Jeonghan’s set of keys jangle in the lock (a decidedly distinct sound due to the horrifyingly large number of fox and wolf themed keychains he has grown a fondness for hooking on there), then the sound of his mate shucking off his shoes in the entryway comes and Seungcheol is ready to accept death with open arms. 

Jihoon pays Jeonghan’s return no mind as he continues to suckle and feed from the milk bottle, the soft sounds of his drinking the only bright light in his life at this very moment (or at least until he sees his beautiful angel again). “Cheol? Where are you- Oh my god.” 

At least his husband has the decency to attempt to not laugh for the first few seconds. A beat of complete and utter silence passes between them before Jeonghan is clutching onto the nearest surface for support, absolutely howling with laughter as he stares down at his husband feeding their child. 

Seungcheol doesn’t mind, though, because he thinks he’ll probably laugh at this memory too a few years down the line when Jihoon is old enough to be properly teased. 

It’s maybe this very moment that the thought first properly hits him: that he wants to be there when Jihoon gets to that age to do just that, and also the only way he can ensure that that happens. 

But that will be something to discuss with Jeonghan after Jihoon is done with his milk.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here we go with another update~ Thanks for all the great feedback on the first part, the fluff kills me too T_T This chapter is just a short little scene from their everyday lives, but it's got domestic papa Seungcheol and I just can't, he'll be such a good dad one day I swear. Not much Jeongcheol interaction in this one but we get to see both Jihoon and Coups being fluffs so it's still a win.
> 
> Leave some reviews if you can, really makes my day :D
> 
> Enjoy~
> 
> PS: try and guess which seventeen member will be introduced next ;) It's following a certain order. Prepare your hearts <3


	3. Soonyoung

**Soonyoung (Year 2, July 6th)**

******We have never thought a dragon could be this cute but aren't we glad to be proven wrong.**

 

“Appa! Up! Up!” Jihoon squeals from his little kiddie chair, fingers grabbing at the air for Seungcheol to pick him up. Jeonghan is leaning against the kitchen island with a fond smile on his face as he watches the pair, having long gotten over the fact that Jihoon would always love Seungcheol more than him. It’s been nearly an entire year since Jihoon first came to them. There’s been a few more Other children here and there, none of them quite staying long enough to leave as much of an impression upon Jeonghan and Seungcheol’s heart as their darling baby fox. 

Seungcheol has a theory that Jihoon is secretly scaring off potential parents when they’re not looking, but Jeonghan isn’t going to question that as long as Jihoon can stay with them. The adoption papers sitting at the bottom of Seungcheol’s desk drawer weighs heavily on Jeonghan’s mind, but that’s a decision for tomorrow’s Jeonghan to make. 

Today’s Jeonghan, on the other hand, will be smothering his precious Jihoonie in kisses. 

“Appa! Stap it! Hoonie no like!” the kitsune squeals in delight, pushing at Jeonghan’s face with those pudgy fingers as the angel chases him with his lips to plant even more wet kisses upon that round little face that he adores so much. 

Jihoon tries to squirm further into Seungcheol’s arms, still giggling and shrieking with laughter. The kitsune has really come so far since the first few days he lived with them, going from a quiet, sullen baby that spent most of his time in his fox form to this happy, smiling toddler. It really makes one appreciate the small things in life. 

The kitsune still does spend a good amount of time in his fox form, but at least there hasn’t yet been a repeat of Jeonghan’s struggle to get him out from under the sofa again. 

There had been a brief affair with curtains and hangers but that had been easily solved. 

Seungcheol settles down on one of the barstools by the counter with Jihoon balanced on his knee, bouncing him up and down to keep him entertained. “I got a call from Namjoon earlier, we’re getting two new little boys this afternoon.” 

“Oh?” Jeonghan’s eyebrows raise, “two at once? Brothers?” 

The werewolf shrugs, jostling Jihoon with the movement and making the little boy laugh and his tail wag happily. Jeonghan smiled at the kitsune, the boy still a bit too small for a three year old but they aren’t too worried about that yet. “I don’t think so. One’s a dragon hybrid and the other’s a nereid so I really doubt it, unless their parents were into some really really freaky stuff but hey I’m not judging, you and me are pretty weird too.” 

Jeonghan rolls his eyes. “Not in front of Jihoonie, please, let’s wait at least another five years before we start ruining him,” he holds out a small homemade dehydrated apple slice for Jihoon to eat, “what are their names?”

“Soonyoung and Wonwoo, don’t ask about their last names because I do not remember. Though I do remember that they’re the same age as Hoonie.” 

Jihoon leans back against Seungcheol’s chest with his chin tilted up, gazing up at Seungcheol’s face upon hearing the sound of his own name. “Really? That’s good. Jihoonie will have some same age friends with him then.” 

The pout Jihoon shoots him tells him that Jihoonie does _not_ want any same age friends thank you very much, but Jeonghan chooses to ignore it in favour of checking his phone for the usual email they receive from the office whenever they get a new child. “Why was Namjoon calling? Was Seokjin busy or something?” 

“I think he’s still scared of us from the time we yelled at him for putting Hoonie in the cage,” Jeonghan scowls at the memory, recalling exactly how they had expressed their displeasure at the situation to the handsome veela. Jeonghan had been well aware metal wouldn’t burn and set the social office’s lawn dramatically on fire but it had been the sentiment that counted and the scorch mark on the grass was still yet to fully recover.  

“Good, he better be.” 

 

* * *

 

 

The doorbell rings and Seungcheol gets up from his seat excitedly, sitting Jihoon on his hip as he walks to answer the door. Jeonghan is quick to follow, literally shoving Seungcheol aside in his excitement to see their two new boys. He’s about to pull it open when the sound of perhaps the tiniest, most precious knocking sound he has ever heard reaches his ears and he has to pause for a moment to calm his rapidly melting heart before he can continue on in his journey through life and his general existence on earth.

“I think one of them just knocked. Have I died? Is this the heaven my mother likes to talk about after 2.5 bottles of soju?” Jeonghan clutches at Seungcheol’s shirt dramatically, not quite trusting his legs to keep himself upright after hearing _that_. 

Seungcheol nods frantically, his own expression a mirror of Jeonghan’s. “I heard it, Hannie, I heard it, I think I might start crying.”

“No no, don’t, you might scare them off, we need to keep these ones just so I can hear them knock again to complete my empty, empty life.” 

When they finally manage to calm their hearts and a laughing Jihoon who had probably been thinking they were playing some sort of game by the door, Jeonghan opens it and reveals a grinning Hoseok and Yoongi standing in front of it with two toddlers in their arms. 

The boy in Hoseok’s arms had black hair trimmed neatly above his ears, a smattering of red and gold scales along the sides of his neck and along his left arm. His eyes were a rich gold, the colour of flames, Jeonghan would say. On his back were a pair of scaly, membraneous wings rather different from Jeonghan’s white, feathery ones, they were quite small though, definitely not substantial enough of a size for actual flight. Jeonghan thanks his lucky stars for that, he’s not sure how he would be able to handle a kid swinging from the ceiling lamps. 

The little dragon hybrid’s cheeks are full and puffy, slightly pink from the heat outside but adorable nonetheless. He’s clapping his hands together happily, his eyes squinted closed as he smiles brightly up at them. He must have been the one that knocked earlier, just looking at how pleased with himself the boy looks. Children are such a gift.

The other boy being carried in Yoongi’s arms was a lot more sullen and quiet than the dragon hybrid, his dark hair a lot longer as well, reaching to brush just above his shoulders and his fringe prickling at his eyes. He didn’t have the same outwardly noticeable physical features as the other boy, but the silent tranquility he seemed to carry gave away his species just as quickly. His thin eyes were a dark sea green, and Jeonghan could almost imagine waves reflected in them as the little boy looks unwaveringly up at him. 

But his cheeks were still lovely and chubby and honestly the contrast between them and those intelligent eyes just made Jeonghan want to _squish_ him. 

“Jeonghan-ssi! Seungcheol-ssi! And Jihoonie-“ Hoseok greets, stiffening a little as he gets to Jihoon, who (to Seungcheol and Jeonghan’s secret pleasure) snarls menacingly at Hoseok at the sound of the affectionate nickname reserved only for his parents despite the angelic giggling just moments prior. “I mean, Jihoon-ssi, it’s nice to see you guys again, sorry I couldn’t be here last time, stuff at work, and I’m terrified of Jihoon-“ Jeonghan swears he hears Hoseok mutter softly under his breath before Yoongi cuts him off. 

“This little lad here is Wonwoo,” he holds up one of the green-eyed boy’s little hands in a wave, “and the one with Hobi is Soonyoung, the two of them are pretty much inseparable so we were so glad they would be able to stay together with you guys.” 

Hoseok shifts Soonyoung’s weight on his hip and beams brightly, pointedly avoiding meeting Jihoon’s mildly threatening gaze. “Where should we put them down?” 

Jeonghan snaps out of his momentary daze of sheer pride for his little fox baby and moves to take Soonyoung from Hoseok’s arms, noting how much warmer the little dragon hybrid ran than himself. It wasn’t a high enough temperature to scald him, but Jeonghan could already foresee himself clutching onto the boy during the winter for warmth. 

“You can put Wonwoo down in the kiddie chair for now, we’ll sort them out later,” Seungcheol waves his hand in the vague direction of the seat they had set out for Jihoon earlier on in the day, sticking by the door and keeping a firm hold on an increasingly fussy kitsune. Jihoon’s never been too good with new kids coming to the house, always a little more hostile than a three year old should be but Jeonghan and Seungcheol simply can’t find it in their hearts to reprimand him too harshly for it. “Thanks for dropping them off, Yoongi-ssi, Hoseok-ssi, we’ll be waiting for the usual email?” 

Yoongi nods as he settles Wonwoo into the seat, giving him one last ruffle of his hair before moving to exit the house. “Yeah, Namjoon or Seokjin should have it sent over before the end of the day. Though I do have to inform you that Wonwoo has a mild allergy to seafood but it isn't serious enough to be life threatening so you don’t have to be too uptight about watching his food, just don’t feed him fish or shellfish and he’ll be fine. Soonyoung doesn’t have any allergies and I’m pretty sure he’ll eat anything you feed him except bananas.” 

“Noted, thanks again you guys,” which can also be read as ‘get out of my house I want to play with my new sons’ and while Jeonghan would never be rude enough to say that out loud, he had nothing against strongly suggesting as he attempts to edge the two out of the house with Soonyoung still gurgling cutely against his shoulder. 

“BYE SOONYOUNG! BYE WONWOO!” Hoseok shouts just as Yoongi shoves him into the passenger seat and slams the door, pressing his face up against the glass to continue waving even as they drive off. By the time Jeonghan returns to the kitchen Seungcheol has already set up an extra kiddie chair for Soonyoung since they’ve found that attempting communication with toddlers is much easier done at eye level. 

Jihoon is sitting in front of the TV with his little toy xylophone, bashing at the rainbow coloured bars with his little cloth mallet, looking so extremely focused Jeonghan will _gladly_ take his bleeding eardrums and be very much thankful for them. Soonyoung is still smiling brightly as Jeonghan gets him seated in the kiddie chair, eyes squinted and hands clapping together. 

Seungcheol is already working on removing the little velcro straps on Wonwoo’s shoes, the nereid sitting perfectly still and obediently letting Seungcheol work on taking off his shoes. Soonyoung on other hand however is kicking his legs wildly as Jeonghan tries to grab at his feet to take off his shoes, still laughing merrily and little wings flapping in time with his clapping. 

“Soonyoungie, will you keep still for Hannie for just a second? I need to take off your shoes so you can play with Jihoonie on the floor.” 

With a little more struggle—though Soonyoung seems to have understood at least the keep still part of his sentence and has stopped squirming enough for Jeonghan to take his shoes off—both Wonwoo and Soonyoung are on the floor, the pair immediately seeking each other as the dragon hybrid wraps his arms around Wonwoo in a tight hug.

“Nonu!” Soonyoung squeals, planting a wet, sloppy kiss on Wonwoo’s cheek. Wonwoo doesn’t reciprocate this blatant act of affection though, pushing Soonyoung away roughly and crawling towards the pile of toys set out in front of the sofa. 

Glancing at Seungcheol nervously, Jeonghan is just waiting for the first sounds of crying to reach his ears when Soonyoung laughs again, seemingly unperturbed by Wonwoo’s complete rejection. Jeonghan can already tell that this child is going to be a downright angel to deal with (no pun intended). 

His mate is very visibly not breathing as they watch Soonyoung move over towards where Jihoon is still playing with his xylophone, so enraptured that he doesn’t even notice the dragon hybrid until the black haired boy is sitting down right in front of him. When Jihoon finally senses the presence of his new brother the kitsune looks up warily, shoulders tensed and ready to flee should this strange scaly boy prove to be a threat. 

“Jihoonie, these are your new brothers, Soonyoung and Wonwoo, they’ll be living with us from now on,” Jeonghan attempts to placate the kitsune before the confrontation could sour, though Jihoon doesn’t pay him any attention as he continues to stare fixedly at Soonyoung. 

The boy’s blue eyes flicker down to Soonyoung’s wings and scales and then back up to his face, and Jeonghan thinks that a child’s expression shouldn’t be so serious at the ripe age of three but Jihoon has always been full of surprises. 

The kitsune is finally starting to relax ever so slightly when all hell breaks loose. 

Jeonghan sees the sneeze before he hears it. 

A puff of smoke and fire erupts from Soonyoung’s nose and mouth as he lets out the smallest (yet somehow extremely deadly) sneeze right in Jihoon’s startled face, the flames thankfully not reaching far enough to hurt the boy but definitely scaring him enough for his usually squinting, smiling eyes to widen in shock. Seungcheol is moving before Jeonghan even registers that he should, rushing over to Jihoon to check that he’s not hurt anywhere.

“Soonyoungie! That’s dangero-“ Jeonghan is about to scold when Wonwoo appears out of nowhere to clamp his little arms and legs around Jeonghan’s calve, preventing him from getting any closer to Soonyoung. At the same time he spots Seungcheol dive to grab at Jihoon, holding him back as the kitsune snarls at Soonyoung with a mouthful of sharpened teeth. Jihoon struggles against Seungcheol (though to no avail), still trying to make a grab for the dragon hybrid who has now seemingly realised the danger his life was in and is scurrying away, wrapping his arms around Wonwoo and whining into the nereid’s neck. 

Unlike earlier, this time Wonwoo doesn’t push him away, instead pulling him closer and holding on tightly, eyeing Jeonghan with a look that he can really only describe as warning even though such an expression shouldn’t belong anywhere near a child their age. Though he does feel an ever familiar clench in his heart at how protective Wonwoo is being over Soonyoung, assuming his earlier grabbing of his leg had been to keep Jeonghan from scolding the little dragon hybrid. 

Soonyoung sneezes again (this time thankfully not in anyone’s face) and his eyes cross slightly as he stares at the little puff of flame and smoke, looking so adorably confused that the previous protective defensiveness on Seungcheol’s face as he holds onto Jihoon fades away, leaving behind the look that Jeonghan knows very well means his soft, soft heart is giving up on the scolding he needs to be dishing out. 

Honestly, Jeonghan would lecture him for it but he feels the exact same way so he can’t talk. “Aww Soonie! Look at your fire! It’s so cool! Good job, Soonie!” Seungcheol gives Soonyoung a wide grin, prompting the utterly confuzzled (because confused simply isn’t a satisfactory explanation of the adorable expression on Soonyoung’s round face) dragon hybrid to smile once again, clapping joyfully as his wings flap behind him. 

Jeonghan squats down on the ground beside the the still hugging Soonyoung and Wonwoo, sighing inwardly as he prepares to play the bad cop. “Your fire was really cool, Soonyoungie, but you have to make sure to be careful because other people can get hurt by it sometimes, alright?” he holds out a pinky for take, though he quickly realises that he doesn’t know what a pinky promise is yet and uses his other hand to wrap Soonyoung’s (tiny) pinky around his own. 

Soonyoung seems very pleased with this new thing he’s just learnt and grips onto Jeonghan’s pinky tighter, eyes squinting shut with the force of his smile. Suddenly the angle the outer corners of Soonyoung’s eyes makes Jeonghan hum in contemplation, wondering just where he’d seen that shape before. 

He looks around the room, searching for inspiration. His gaze falls upon the old wooden clock they’d gotten from Seungcheol’s grandmother hanging on the wall above the TV. “Ahhh… You’re our little 10:10, aren’t you, little dragon baby?” he throws the nearest soft toy within reach at Seungcheol, the poor werewolf still comforting and calming down their fox baby, to get his attention. “Cheollie look! Soonyoungie’s eyes look like 10:10 on the clock when they’re closed!” 

The werewolf’s eyes narrow, leaning forward a little to get a better look at the still beaming toddler. “Huh, they do!? That’s fuckin-“

“LANGUAGE!” 

“-freaking adorable!”

Jeonghan pulls his pinky out of Soonyoung’s grasp and quickly reaches a hand out to pat his cheek in case the boy gets upset, using his other hand to mirror the action on Wonwoo. “I’m Jeonghan and he’s Seungcheol,” he says slowly, jerking his chin towards his husband and ignoring the offended squawk at the blasé introduction. “But you can call us Hannie and Cheollie or even Appa if you want, okay? Jihoonie is your little brother and we’re all gonna take good care of Soonyoungie and Wonwoo-yah from now on, let’s work together well! _Fighting_!” 

He cheers softly and Soonyoung throws his arms up in the air to copy him, laughing so infectiously that even the expressionless Wonwoo cracks a smile, letting Soonyoung link their pinkies together and wave their joint hands around without even a second of hesitation. 

“Okay it’s great that you guys are being all sweet and adorable over there but I think Jihoon is actually out for blood right now please save- I _mean_ , help me. Please,” Seungcheol is pouting at Jeonghan as he holds up a still squirming Jihoon, shaking him slightly as if to emphasise his point. Jihoon lays eyes on Soonyoung and hisses once again, the flames of indignant toddler fury apparently reignited. 

Jihoon’s favourite wolf plushie lies abandoned on the ground close to Wonwoo so Jeonghan stretches forward to pick it up, handing it to Soonyoung who takes it curiously. “Go and give this to Jihoonie, it’ll make him happy.” 

The dragon hybrid nods seriously, wings flapping dramatically as he gets up unsteadily on his little feet and toddles over to Jihoon, holding the plushie out like a peace offering as he goes. He pauses right in front of the fox hybrid, still smiling as he tucks the plushie in the crook of Jihoon’s shoulder. 

All seems well until Jihoon’s clawed hand comes down in a flash before Seungcheol can even jerk him back to stop him, scratching a long, thin line from Soonyoung’s jaw to his neck, drawing blood that seems to glow so bright red to Jeonghan’s protective parental eyes that it might as well have its own ambulance siren attached. 

For a good one minute the only thing in his head is: 

AMBULANCE! HOSPITAL! BLOOD! DEATH!

But then he takes a second to breathe and notice that Soonyoung not only seems unfazed but is also poking at the scratch with a single, chubby finger (which he really shouldn’t do who knows what he’s been touching today) with what seems like _curiosity_ in his little 10:10 eyes. He peers at the smidgen of blood on his finger for a second, then grins and lets out a tiny “hehe” that just about stops Jeonghan’s heart because an angel shouldn’t have to deal with this amount of stress in a single day and also because he’s going to have to file away that sound under his storage of ‘cute things his babies do’. 

Something rippling and glistening off to the side catches his attention and he watches as a sphere of what seems like water drift through the air, albeit moving rather slowly but still moving nonetheless. 

What in the-

The water drops with a splash on Jihoon’s head. 

-HOLY SHIT?

Wonwoo is crawling over to Soonyoung as Jeonghan’s brain works to process this new turn of events, licking his thumb and wiping at the scratch mark with careful hands. Wonwoo was a nereid so that meant he had affinity with water but the boy is _three_? And where had the water even come from-

_THE FISH TANK!_

To keep his children from experiencing the harsh reality of death just yet, Jeonghan runs to the sink to grab some water to fill the tank and save their three little goldfish first before dealing with the utter catastrophe back there. 

It’d been just a disgruntled fox baby to deal with at first. Now it was a _drenched_ fox baby, a _bleeding_ dragon baby, and an _angry_ water baby. Oh dear lord. 

Seungcheol looks visibly frightened for his life when Jeonghan returns to the possible future crime scene, still holding the now still and extremely wet Jihoon to his chest as if not quite sure what else to do. Of all their previous foster children, they can’t say that they’ve ever had a situation as potentially life threatening as this. 

Soonyoung blinks twice. “Hehe,” he finally giggles and Seungcheol and Jeonghan can only watch as they all dissolve into giggles (including Jihoon??) and the crisis is averted (for now). Jeonghan lets out a breath he hadn’t even been aware he’d been holding and sits down beside Seungcheol, dropping his head on his shoulder, his stamina completely sapped. 

“Nonu!” Soonyoung squeals, linking pinkies with Wonwoo for the second time. “Hoon!” he cries out again, taking Jihoon’s pinky with his other hand so all three of them are linked. 

“Can you fetch the plasters and disinfectant?” his mate whispers into his ear, not wanting the disturb the children’s playing as he finally releases Jihoon to make friends with his new brothers. Jeonghan gets up from the ground, brushing off his pants. 

“I’ll grab you a new shirt too, you’re looking a little, well, _wet_.” 

“Only for you baby.” 

The two of them wink at each other simultaneously and Soonyoung looks up at him just before he’s about to turn on his heels and grab the things from the first aid kit, small eyes widening and lip sticking out in a pout as he realises Jeonghan is about to leave. The dragon hybrid reaches for him with short, grabby fingers. “No go, Hannie-Appa! Soonie miss you! No leave Soonie pwease!” 

They’ve dealt with kids that have slight separation anxiety before, though those cases usually benefit from more separation so the kids can get used to it. 

“I’ll be right back, Soonyoungie, Hannie is just going to get something,” he says, smiling as reassuringly as he can. However, as Soonyoung’s eyes start welling with tiny, glistening tears the further Jeonghan gets, he really can’t bring himself to enforce this and rushes back to the group, thoughts of plasters and infection momentarily forgotten. 

Soonyoung smells like smoke and the warmth from crackling fires on a cold winter day as Jeonghan clutches him close to his chest, not exactly sure why the childishly stumbling words had made his eyes prick with wetness. Soonyoung doesn’t fight the hug like Jihoon does on particularly surly days, rather rubbing his cheek against the soft cotton of Jeonghan’s t-shirt so hard he can actually feel the boy’s smile through the fabric. “No leave Soonie.” 

“No, never leave Soonie.” 

Unsurprisingly it’s Seungcheol that starts crying first, but if Jeonghan had hidden a few stray tears by bending down to kiss the top of Soonyoung’s black hair, no one is ever the wiser.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Woooo! Here comes the baby Soonyoung none of us knew we actually needed to survive until now! He's such a precious babby I honestly felt myself squealing all throughout bouncing ideas with momodanik ;) Thanks for all the sweet comments and reviews left on the previous chapters T_T Never expected this little brainchild to blow up so big so quickly T_T. Look forward to more babby Soonyoung in the future because honest to god he's the cutest babby ever. 
> 
> Don't forget to leave some reviews telling me what you think and heck even give me some prompts as to what you wanna see kid seventeen doing and I'll do it, this is just pure fluff after all :)
> 
> Enjoy~


	4. Wonwoo

**Wonwoo (Year 2, August 15th)**

**They've dealt with quiet children before, but none of them have ever been quite like Wonwoo.**

 

“I’m sorry for bothering you, Seokjin-ssi, Jeonghan and I were just curious about Soonie and Won’s background since Yoongi and Hoseok didn’t go over it when they dropped them off and there was really little information regarding it in the email you sent,” Seungcheol was tapping his foot as he spoke, a habit that he knew greatly aggravated his husband but boohoo Jeonghan wasn’t here so he was just tapping away!

Seokjin’s been nervous around him and Jeonghan ever since they showed him the full force of their wrath with their theatric burning (or attempted burning) of Jihoon’s cage, a fact which greatly pleases his inner alpha wolf desire to _protect_ his family. “O-oh it’s really nothing, I’m pulling up the file now, just give me a moment,” the older man clears his throat. “From what we’ve managed to gather from the police report and Soonyoung and Wonwoo’s family history, it appears that Soonyoung had come to live with Wonwoo’s pod pretty young though we’re not sure about the specifics. As nereids are predominantly, actually, _all_ female, Wonwoo is a bit of a rare case and even our specialists aren’t too sure how he even exists right now since he is a pure blooded nereid and not a halfer.”

“The police report states that one of the elders in Wonwoo’s pod had attempted to kill Wonwoo because of this rarity and that Soonyoung and Wonwoo had been handed over to social services for adoption by one of the other nereids as it was determined to be the best option for the children,” Seokjin hums as he presumedly scrolls down whatever file he’s reading, and Seungcheol can hear his fingers clicking against the keyboard as he types. 

The veela male continues. “For Soonyoung it appears that his parents were involved in the war between the dragon hybrid clans a year back, though their current status _is_ unknown and we haven’t been able to contact them at all regarding Soonyoung. Namjoon-ah deducts that they were probably killed in the war and hence how Soonyoung ended up with the nereid pod but I still hold a bit of hope that they’re out there alive somewhere. All in all there aren’t any potential adoptions being lined up for the two so they’ll be staying with you indefinitely for now, Jihoon as well. Oh! Regarding his adoption-“

“Han and I are still discussing that, we’ll get back to you once we have a final decision.”

“Oh no problem, do call again if you have anymore questions. If I don’t pick up then don’t bother calling Namjoon because I swear that man has lost his phone again, honestly next he’ll be losing his passport and-“

“Thanks Seokjin-ssi, we’ll be in touch soon,” Seungcheol cuts off the veela’s rant before it can spiral any further, knowing full well how easily he can be trapped in an hour long phone call with Seokjin gushing endlessly about his ‘wonderful oaf’ of a husband having experienced it before. Never again, he had sworn, _never again_. 

“Oh! Bye then!” Seungcheol ends the call at that, placing his phone down on the changing table (and not his pocket this time). Jeonghan is at a modelling gig today so Seungcheol had taken the day off from work to watch the kids, it’s been pretty good, so far. Honestly he doesn’t know how Jeonghan does it all on his own most days but he’s growing more and more grateful for his gorgeous husband every day. 

He’d put the three toddlers down for their nap time just half an hour ago, and though it had taken a bit of coercion (especially on Soonyoung’s part) he had gotten them all in their cribs sound asleep right on time. Jeonghan had left the house with a checklist full of things to do for the day, as well as a few of the kids’ habits to look out for. 

There’d been something Jeonghan had written down at the very bottom of the paper, but Seungcheol couldn’t recall for it for the life of him. He’d stuck it on the fridge… 

Why was Jeonghan’s handwriting so derpy today _jeez_. 

Seungcheol squinted at the sheet of (suspiciously stained) paper. “Wonwoo whales- no that can’t be right,” he leaned even closer, “Wonwoo wakes up early from nap time?” 

As if on cue, the baby monitor tied to the drawstring of his sweats began emitting the soft noises of a toddler waking up from slumber, the sound of a breathy yawn going straight to Seungcheol’s heart. He hurries back to the children’s room, slipping through the gap he’d left in the door and spotting the nereid sitting straight up in his crib, eyes still hooded and sleepy. 

Wonwoo turns to look at him, his lower lip sticking out slightly- Honestly have all of them picked it up from him already? It’s only been a month since Wonwoo and Soonyoung have come to them but Seungcheol feels like they already belong as part of the family. “Seungcheol-Appa,” Wonwoo murmurs, yawning once again and rubbing his eyes with his little fists. 

He’s constantly being surprised by how eloquent Wonwoo is at such a young age, picking up words from himself and Jeonghan faster than both Jihoon and Soonyoung. Jeonghan’s been thinking about starting Wonwoo on reading a bit earlier but Seungcheol has argued against it to let Wonwoo just play around as a kid for a little while longer. 

“Seungcheol-Appa, thirsty,” Wonwoo whispers, rubbing at his throat sadly. Seungcheol hurries to the nereid youngling and hoists him out of the crib and into his arms, taking a moment to seat him comfortably before heading out towards the kitchen. Wonwoo’s green and blue sippy cup is sitting on the drying rack so Seungcheol grabs it and fills it with the jar of freshly boiled water from just that morning, handing the cup to Wonwoo who grasps it between his hands and drinks from it silently. 

Out of the three children currently living with them, Wonwoo is the hardest for Seungcheol to read. He’d thought that Jihoon had been difficult when he’d first come but Jihoon’s moods and wants were easy to decipher once you knew enough of his tells and were patient enough. But Wonwoo? The nereid feels like a closed book to him on most days, and even Jeonghan’s charm has been unable to break through to the boy. 

“Wonnie, did you nap enough? Are you still sleepy?” he strokes the boys hair, fingers getting caught in a slight tangle by his ear. Wonwoo’s hair had been pretty long even from the first day but now a little more than a month later his hair has steadily grown beyond his shoulders, leaving Seungcheol to wonder whether or not to give him a haircut. 

Jeonghan had sported long hair from the time before they started dating up to just before Jihoon came, so Seungcheol finds himself hesitating ever so slightly whenever he comes to contemplating cutting Wonwoo’s hair. 

The nereid nods his head, inhaling deeply before releasing the breath in a long sigh. “Fish, Seungcheol-Appa, fish,” Wonwoo pulls at the collar of Seungcheol’s t-shirt to get his attention, pointing at their house fish tank enthusiastically. Perhaps it was due to Wonwoo’s disposition as a water based Other, but the boy spent most of his time sitting in front of the fish tank just watching the fish swim around (the rest of which was spent playing with Soonyoung). 

Two of their original three goldfish had actually died after the extreme stress of Wonwoo’s first water bubble incident but Seungcheol had rushed out to the store to replace them before any of the kids could notice so the crisis had thus far been averted. He has a mild suspicion that Wonwoo actually knows but if the boy ain’t saying anything neither is he. 

He sits Wonwoo down in front of the fish tank to let the boy watch the goldfish. Normally he would have let the kids walk on their own but Wonwoo isn’t too skilled at walking just yet and Jeonghan had been having quite a bit of difficulty trying to teach him. His research told him that nereids spent most of their life in water and very rarely lived on the surface (which makes his and Soonyoung’s companionship really unexplainable but they’re so cute does it really need explaining?), so Seungcheol guesses the boy would be more adept at swimming than anything else. 

They did have that inflatable pool from a few summers ago still in storage…

“Won-“

“Seungcheol-Appa,” Wonwoo said suddenly, still staring intently at the fish tank. He pressed a stubby finger up against the glass and Seungcheol watched in fascination as all three goldfish swam up to surround it. “They no like here, fish want be free.” 

Of course he could communicate with the fish. Of course. Now Seungcheol is left with the job of explaining the concept of breeding animals in captivity and their resultant inability to survive in the wild on their own and there goes Wonwoo’s innocence, riding off into the waves right along with the fish he wants to set free into the ocean which, might Seungcheol add, goldfish can’t live in anyways. “Well, Wonnie, goldfish aren’t quite,” ‘bred’ isn’t a good word to teach a child, he thinks, “ _grown_ to live by themselves, so it’s better for them to stay with us where we can keep them safe.”

Wonwoo shakes his head stubbornly, the first act of childishness he’s yet to see from the boy. “No, want be free. Here too small, they no like, they sad, Seungcheol-Appa, _please_.” 

Seungcheol doesn’t want to kill some goldfish by tossing them in the river to free them but goddamn him if he won’t just to make the usually stoic nereid happy. “But, Wonnie…” 

“These two,” Wonwoo moves his finger to the opposite side of the tank and two of the goldfish follow him, leaving one behind, “don’t like the other one.” 

He pulls his finger away from the glass of the tank and cups his hands together, a sphere of water rising out of the tank with the movement. The goldfish that had remained behind from the other two is trapped within it, drifting within the hovering sphere calmly. “This one always sad because he’s alone, no friends, no Soonyoung,” the sphere comes to rest in his cupped hands, and Seungcheol watches in amazement as the goldfish moves to nuzzle against Wonwoo’s palm. 

His heart softens to the state of the soft tofu Jihoon likes to eat with his rice and he kneels down beside Wonwoo to press a kiss against his temple, careful not to knock into his hands. “Why don’t you keep this one in a separate tank in your room, and then you can come with me to pick up some friends for him from the store. How does that sound, Wonnie?” 

The smile that Wonwoo gives him makes the upcoming long drive to the pet store completely worth it, the slight crinkle of Wonwoo’s nose and the flash of still gap-filled teeth making his usually impassive face brighten up instantly. “I choose friends?” 

“You can choose _all_ the friends,” Seungcheol reassures, trying to capture the image of Wonwoo smiling perfectly in his memory. “What are you going to name this little guy?”

Wonwoo tilts his head to the side to think for a moment before shaking his head. “Secret,” he says, still shaking his head, hair swinging loosely around his face. 

“But Appa is really good at keeping secrets, pinky promise,” he holds up his pinky for Wonwoo to take, the nereid eyeing it suspiciously with narrowed eyes. Hesitantly, he wraps his tiny pinky around it, and Seungcheol curls his thumb up to meet with Wonwoo’s to seal the promise. “Will you tell Appa?” 

Wonwoo returns the floating fish to the tank and waves at it once before holding onto Seungcheol’s shoulder to bring his mouth close to Seungcheol’s ear. “Name it Soonyoung, don’t tell him, promise?” 

The arrow of affection that strikes him straight in the chest at that is nearly enough to knock him flat on his back, but he manages to keep himself upright to pull Wonwoo onto his lap, ticking his round belly affectionately as the boy squeals and attempts to squirm away from the waggling fingers. Seungcheol runs his fingers through the boy’s hair to smooth out any tangles, the action familiar from when he used to do the same for Jeonghan before bed.

Feeling a good atmosphere between the two of them right now, Seungcheol asks the question that’s been nagging at him all this while. “Do you want to cut your hair, Wonnie? Or leave it long like this?” 

The nereid goes completely still in his arms and Seungcheol worries for a moment that perhaps that hadn’t been the right timing to ask after all. A young mermaid girl that had come to stay with them for a few months before had been really sensitive about her hair, so Seungcheol had been juggling the idea that perhaps Wonwoo’d be the same but he hadn’t been sure. 

Wonwoo tugs at a strand of long hair hanging in front of his face, rubbing it gently between his fingers. “Cut… hair?”

“It’s okay if you don’t want to-“

“Grandma don’t let cut hair or Grandma no like Wonwoo,” Wonwoo turns around in Seungcheol’s lap to face him, little toddler hands still gripping onto his lock of hair. “Wonwoo cut hair, Seungcheol-Appa still like Wonwoo?” 

Seungcheol pulls Wonwoo to his chest, hugging him so tightly it must be uncomfortable for the little boy but the nereid doesn’t make even a single noise of complaint. “Seungcheol-Appa and Jeonghan-Appa will always love Wonwoo no matter what. Long hair,” he brushes Wonwoo’s hair out of his eyes and gives him a light eskimo kiss, “or short.” 

“And besides,” Seungcheol continues, “doesn’t Soonyoungie look really cool with his short hair?”

With a secretive glance around them as if checking that no one (Soonyoung) was listening to them, Wonwoo nods firmly, repeating Seungcheol’s words. “Really cool.” 

He can’t help but laugh at that, holding up a hand for Wonwoo to high-five. “Do you want Seungcheol-Appa to give you a haircut or Jeonghan-Appa to do it?” 

There is a moment of debate. “Seungcheol-Appa.” 

Oh Jeonghan will _love_ this when he gets back.

 

* * *

 

“Your husband is back and he is looking even more beautiful than he usually does, come greet him at the door for making the moneys for this family!” Jeonghan announces as he throws open the front door in his usual melodramatic manner. Soonyoung complies immediately, making a mad dash for the door in his usual clumsy, wing-flapping Soonyoung fashion to wrap himself around Jeonghan’s legs with a giggle and a squealed: “Hannie-Appa!”

Jihoon is a bit slower to follow but greets Jeonghan nonetheless, tugging on the hem of his slacks with a smile that Seungcheol can see Jeonghan visibly melting at. His mate kneels down and takes both their fox and dragon babies into his arms, squeezing them tightly and blowing raspberries into their cheeks in a way that has the house filling with the sound of laughter and joy. 

Seungcheol loves this sound, he knows Jeonghan does too; it’s why they’d uprooted their whole lives to start this foster home in the first place. 

“Wonwoo-yah? Come say hello to Jeonghan-Appa too?” Jeonghan calls out from under his pile of small children, a single hand peeking out over Soonyoung’s wings to beckon wildly for the nereid. The boy in question looks at Seungcheol seemingly for encouragement, which he happily provides as he gently sets Wonwoo down in the right direction. 

Jeonghan manages to peel Soonyoung off of his face just in time to catch Wonwoo’s first steps, the little boy having struggled for most of the afternoon with Seungcheol after his haircut to try and finally master the art of walking. Jeonghan’s eyes grow wide and vaguely watery as Wonwoo stumbles over his own feet in his attempt to walk over to him. 

The boy’s newly shorn hair rests in a messy fringe just at his eyebrows, still a little shaggy but a great deal shorter than his original length. Jeonghan’s jaw is slack at the sight of him, and Seungcheol can completely understand why. Even he’d been a little in shock at the sight of Wonwoo after his haircut and he’d been the one to give it to him. The nereid looked like a whole new person, wherein the long hair had made him look sullen and stoic, this new short style brought light to his face and made him look a lot less (for lack of better word) _emo_. 

He finally looked like a three year old child, Seungcheol would say, and not some sort of old soul in a child’s body. 

Wonwoo’s foot catches on the little bump in the wood right by the entrance and he trips forward, crashing to the floor with a thump that Seungcheol can feel as if he had been the one to fall instead. Jeonghan is already rushing forward to pick him up but Soonyoung is a lot faster, wrapping his chubby toddler arms around Wonwoo’s shoulders to help him up and then refusing to let him go even though the nereid seems perfectly fine. 

“Wonwoo-yah! Are you okay, are you bleeding?” Jeonghan is fussing over Wonwoo right alongside Soonyoung, checking his elbows and knees for any scrapes or splinters and sighing in relief when he finds none. There’s a faint red mark on Wonwoo’s right knee that will mostly likely develop into a nasty bruise in a day or so, but Seungcheol thinks bruises and scrapes are all part of being a kid and growing up so he’s not worried. 

Kids don’t need to learn how to read early or walk and talk early to be considered grown up, especially the children that come to their home, most of them already aged beyond their years. It’s the little things like pets and bruises and laughter that count, and Seungcheol wants to make sure that any child that passes through their door gets plenty of everything they need in order to be the children they deserve to be. 

Jeonghan is planting a mass of butterfly kisses all over Wonwoo’s face even as the nereid wrinkles his nose and tries to move away from the offending lips, brushing his hands over Wonwoo’s freshly cut hair in amazement. “Wonwoo-yah you look so handsome, Seungcheol-Appa did a good job, huh?” 

Usually, cutting the children’s hair is a job designated to Jeonghan since the angel hasn’t trusted Seungcheol with a pair of scissors since he’d first attempted to trim Jeonghan’s own hair for him way back when. His husband looks pleasantly surprised at his work, evidently rather pleased with it in fact as he continues to run his hand over Wonwoo’s head. 

“Appa! Up! Up!” Jihoon is pulling at his sweatpants, a pout on those petal pink lips of his as he feels a little left out from all the excitement going on. Seungcheol smiles and presses a kiss to the tip of his kitsune’s nose, relishing in the way the boy’s laughter soothes his heart and sends a wave of warmth passing through his veins. Jihoon’s silvery blue eyes glint in the light from the setting sun as he and Jeonghan move the party out onto the back porch, the five of them watching as the dusk turns the sky an array of shades of purple and orange. 

Soonyoung sneezes from his perch on Seungcheol’s shoulders and the accompanying puff of flame no longer worries Seungcheol or Jeonghan, having stocked the house up well with fire extinguishers in almost every corner since the first incident. The fire casts a momentary glow over the rapidly darkening lawn, which gives Seungcheol a rather brilliant idea (if he does say so himself). 

He nudges his mate with an elbow, being careful not to jostle Wonwoo in his arms but getting his attention anyways. “We should have a barbecue out here, when the kids are a little older,” he says, gesturing to the wide empty space of their backyard in a sweeping motion that has Jihoon giggling from his other arm. 

Jeonghan presses a kiss to the kitsune’s cheek before planting one on Seungcheol’s lips. “That sounds like an awesome idea, Cheol, watching you do muscle work is always a treat.” 

“Why do I get the feeling I’ll be doing everything while you relax in the house and watch me struggle?” 

“Because we’ve been together for seven years and you know me oh so well, beloved husband of mine.” 

“LOVE!” Soonyoung echoes from atop his head, wings flapping wildly and throwing Seungcheol ever so slightly off balance. “SOONIE LOVE NONU!” 

And Seungcheol loves them all. 

 

* * *

  

“What colour tank do you want for Soonyoung?” Seungcheol kneels in front of the shelf of fish tanks the store has on display beside Wonwoo, letting the little boy study his options for a moment. 

“Blue!” Wonwoo says decisively, pointing at one on the topmost shelf. Seungcheol hoists Wonwoo up onto his shoulders so the boy can grab it himself, knowing that these kinds of cheap plastic tanks don’t weigh too much anyways. Perhaps when Wonwoo is a little older they can invest in some better tanks and equipment, but for now the boy is three and will be happy with plastic. 

Seungcheol takes the tank from Wonwoo’s hands before the nereid drops it and tucks it under his arm, still holding onto Wonwoo’s legs to keep him from toppling backwards. They make it to the fish section and Seungcheol wishes he could see the expression on Wonwoo’s face but suffices with the awed gasp the boy lets out instead. “Which fishies do you want to be Soonyoung’s friends?” he asks, hoping that Wonwoo doesn’t pick some ridiculously expensive fish but at the same time knowing he won’t be able to say no if he does. 

“This one!” Seungcheol nearly chokes as Wonwoo pulls up his usual sphere of water from one of the tanks of guppies, a single silver bodied guppy with a bright red tail trapped within it. 

The two of them are about 10 seconds away from getting kicked out of the store by the attendant off to the side who looks extremely alarmed at this development and Seungcheol will be darned if he made this whole drive out here with his son only to go home empty handed. “Now now, Wonnie, you can’t do that here, just tell the nice lady over there which fishies you want and she’ll take them out for you.” 

He moves Wonwoo off of his shoulders and seats him on his hip instead so the nereid can have a closer look. The floating guppy has (thankfully) been returned to the tank and Wonwoo is pointing at it furiously to make sure the attendant gets the right one. Wonwoo picks another three more and Seungcheol remembers to grab some fish food and whatever other necessities they might need for the new tank. 

The advice the attendant gives him on breeding the guppies kind of go in one ear and out the other because the fish in the house currently outnumber the people and they most certainly do not need more until Wonwoo is actually old enough to start cleaning and caring for the tank himself. Seungcheol had doomed himself to a few years of changing poop water the moment he’d brought up getting more fish for Wonwoo, but the boy had been smiling at him for like the _first_ time and Seungcheol was weak enough for his kids on a regular basis anyways. 

Wonwoo is smiling at his new fish through the bag the shop attendant had put them in, seemingly communicating with them in whatever silent language only he and the fish could understand. The car ride back is uneventful, and Seungcheol is just glad he had the foresight to insist that the fish ‘sit in the front seat with him’ because his water baby is out like a light in his carseat within minutes and filling the car with Seungcheol’s favourite melody of soft snores and breaths. 

He moves the fish inside the house before coming back out for Wonwoo, cradling the groggy boy in his arms securely. He swears that he hears Wonwoo whisper: “I love you, Appa” from inside his crib right before he closes the door to the nursery, and the smile doesn’t leave Seungcheol’s face for the rest of the day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> More soft Seungcheol for all of you fluffs out there, can anyone tell this is gonna be a recurring theme from here on out?? Who am I kidding this whole thing is one huge fluffy marshmallow anyways PUT IN ALL THE SOFT! Hope you all liked how momodanik and I planned out Soonyoung and Wonwoo's backstory, there'll be more details on it in later chapters to come but for now this should give a little insight to their characters :) We always imagined Wonwoo's character to be more quiet, leaving the loudness and excitement to Soonyoung but still a major cutie nonetheless. Thank you so much for all the reviews and kudos and omg never expected this to get such a great response thank you all so much T_T *finger hearts*
> 
> Leave a comment if you all feel like! Tell me what you wanna see and what you're looking forward to! It all really encourages me to write as fast as I can! I've started school so my updates may not be as frequent as before but I'll still try to post new chapters as often as I can because this fic just makes me so damn happy I can't.
> 
> Hope you enjoyed~


	5. Bath Time

**Year 2, September 10th**

**Bath time with Soonyoung and Wonwoo is both a blessing and a curse.**

 

Seungcheol had taken Jihoon out for ice cream so Jeonghan had thought it would be the perfect time to give his other two children a bath, since the kitsune was usually the most difficult when it came to things involving large volumes of water in one place. 

Needless to say he had thought wrong. 

Now he remembered why he usually gave them all baths one on one. 

Soonyoung and Wonwoo were cute to watch when they were playing or just together in general, but Soonyoung is naturally bouncy and to Wonwoo water is the equivalent of ingesting a whole jar of straight sugar so he really should have known better than to combine all of these factors into one huge cesspool of regret and soapy bathwater. 

But Soonyoung had _cried_ when he’d tried to take Wonwoo for his bath alone, how could Jeonghan just leave him?

_“Come on, Wonwoo-yah, bath time!” he nuzzles his nose against Wonwoo’s and picks him up from the playpen set up in the living room, hiking him up nicely against his side and making for the bathroom. Soonyoung was very energetic so he usually needed a bit more playtime to get all of his energy out for baths._

_However the second he takes two steps away from the playpen he starts to hear the albeit well familiar sound of sniffling though definitely not from Soonyoung whatsoever. Soonyoung is looking up at him with eyes brimming with hot, wet tears, his toys abandoned as he trembles and reaches for his younger brother._

_“Nonu no go! Nonu no no no go! Nonu no go!” he cries, the tears finally pouring over and streaming down his round cheeks. Jeonghan had figured out Soonyoung’s abandonment issues even before calling in on Seokjin to ask about it, though he’d thought he’d been doing a fairly good job of getting the boy over it._

_Apparently not, as Soonyoung continues to bawl and babble for Wonwoo who, by now has also started to struggle and squirm for his brother. Well, he could just bathe them together, right? He usually only bathed the boys in groups when Seungcheol was around to help but how hard could it be? He could do this._

He couldn’t do this. 

“Nonu!” Soonyoung smacks his arms down against the surface of the water in the tub and creates a large splash, Jeonghan unfortunately getting the brunt of the attack as the entire front of his shirt is soaked through. The dragon hybrid is currently trying to climb up Wonwoo’s unsuspecting back like the nereid is some sort of tree and Jeonghan can already picture him slipping and falling and Seungcheol having to mop up the flooded bathroom. 

Gently, he pries Soonyoung off of his brother and sets him on the opposite side of the large tub, leaving Wonwoo to continue playing with his usual bubbles of water and his favourite colourful cup toys. “Soonyoungie, not so much splashing, you’re getting Appa all wet.” 

“Sowwy Appa,” Soonyoung apologises, still fidgeting even as Jeonghan begins to scrub his hair with sweet smelling shampoo. “Soonie like bath time.” 

Jeonghan can’t stay mad at that, smiling softly as he continues to massage shampoo into Soonyoung’s black hair, “Appa likes bath time too, it makes you all smell so nice and clean.” 

He and Seungcheol like to let the boys play in the backyard since fresh air and sunshine never hurt anyone, though it does result in extra smelly toddlers at the end of the day it’s worth it for the healthy golden tones of their skin. Some of the other foster homes in the association they’re a part of advise to just turn on some TV or a movie to entertain the children during the day, and although they don’t exactly believe in that they aren’t about to question it in case it draws unwanted attention. 

The prejudice against Others had _supposedly_ faded by the time their parents were children, though the natural fear the humans seem to have against people unlike themselves drives many to do and say some pretty nasty stuff when provoked. He and Seungcheol just prefer to keep their head down than to play martyr, just because they don’t only have themselves to worry about if any situations turn dire. 

The white loofa hanging on one of the many hooks on the wall is meant specially for cleaning Soonyoung’s wings, the boy squealing and giggling all throughout Jeonghan’s meticulous scrub of his scales and the sensitive (read: ticklish) membrane. 

“Wonwoo-yah, could you help Appa and pour some water over Soonyoungie’s hair?” he asks, making sure the other boy doesn’t feel excluded. The best way to get the children to bond and to care for each other was to ensure that none of them felt left out during activities, especially ones as everyday as bath time. Getting them to help each other or work together was also a surefire way to make strong bonds. 

As expected, the nereid nods with a tiny smile, levitating some water over Soonyoung’s head and releasing it slowly. Wonwoo was always the gentlest _and_ the most violent when it came to Soonyoung, but Jeonghan could tell just how much he loved him. “Good job Wonwoo-yah! Soonyoungie, do you wanna help wash Wonwoo’s hair?”

The dragon hybrid’s eyes widen in excitement and he nods hurriedly, waddling his way over to Wonwoo in the shallow water of the tub and sticking his hands into Wonwoo’s now short hair. The latter winces slightly at the rough pull of his brothers fingers but doesn’t say a word, sitting quietly as Jeonghan pours a little dollop of shampoo into his hair and guiding Soonyoung’s hands to work the suds in. 

Unsurprisingly, Soonyoung is a lot rougher than perhaps one should be while washing someone else’s hair, but Jeonghan can tell the boy is genuinely trying his best judging by the determined fire (no pun intended) in his eyes as he makes sure to get soap in every inch of Wonwoo’s hair. The sight is honestly too precious for words and Jeonghan finds himself resisting the urge to coo out loud and disrupt this picture perfect moment.

“Nonu clean!” he announces not long after, shaping the nereid’s hair into unequally sized horns. He giggles at his own handiwork and looks to Jeonghan for approval, a spot of soap dotted on his own chin somehow but remaining utterly unperturbed as his eyes squint into his trademark 10:10. 

“Wonwoo is very clean,” Jeonghan agrees, distracting Soonyoung with a floating ship toy as he runs his fingers through Wonwoo’s hair to ensure it’s thoroughly scrubbed. “Close your eyes, baby,” he says as he fills one of Wonwoo’s cup toys with water and carefully runs it over the boy’s soapy head, avoiding getting any of the lather into his eyes. The alleged ‘No more tears!’ claim on the bottle was an outright lie, he’d learned. 

He’s almost done with rinsing Wonwoo off when the biggest splash of the day comes rushing towards them like a tsunami, Soonyoung having jumped and flapped his wings at the same time to create a humongous spray that soaked Jeonghan straight down to the bone. Wonwoo is thankfully undisturbed by this sudden rush of water, in fact he looks pretty darn happy about it. Though with his now increasing shivers from the wet fabric clinging to his skin in addition to his panic at the risk of Soonyoung having slipped and fallen and cracked his head open, Jeonghan is definitely _not_. 

“Soonyoung! What have I told you about jumping around in the bath and splashing everywhere? You could have slipped and hurt yourself! You are getting out _right now_ and having a time-out, young man!” Jeonghan scolds, looking at Soonyoung sternly as he gives him a final rinse over with the shower head and lifts the flailing boy out of the tub by his armpits. The dragon hybrid is whining and apologising profusely as Jeonghan reaches for his towel, no longer caring about getting his joggers wet as he imagines he can’t possibly get any wetter at this point. 

What he did not expect however, was to engage in a full out tug-of-war battle with Wonwoo at the other end, stubbornly pulling his brother back into the tub with him. “Wonwoo-yah, Soonyoung has been naughty so he needs a time out, he could have hurt himself or you just now.” 

Wonwoo shakes his head firmly, still holding onto his brother. “Soonyoung no time-out.” 

“Wonwoo, no talking back…”

“No time-out!”

Jeonghan sighs. “Fine, both of you get a time out then, out we come.” 

He repeats the process with Wonwoo and dries them both down, covering their heads with the little duck and seal themed hooded towels he and Seungcheol had bought on sale in a family pack a few weeks back. Jeonghan did love himself a good bargain. 

Dressing Soonyoung is a challenge, having to fit his little wings into one of the special shirts they’d gotten for him and securing them within the slits cut out for them in the back with the button provided. Soonyoung still needs his diapers during the evening and night times so Jeonghan gets those on him too, finishing up with his pants and all the while ensuring Wonwoo doesn’t wander off somewhere while his back is turned. 

Wonwoo doesn’t need diapers anymore so Jeonghan forgoes them, and dressing him takes a much shorter time than it does for Soonyoung. When the two brothers are fully dressed and dried he sits them in the time-out corner they’d set up in the children’s room, pressing start on the small timer stuck to the wall and counting down for three minutes. 

Soonyoung pouts and shifts about restlessly all throughout, whereas Wonwoo keeps his head dipped down and plays with his hands as the clock ticks down. One of the first things Seungcheol and Jeonghan taught to all of the kids that came to stay with them no matter for how long was proper time-out behaviour, and while some kids required shorter times than others, 2-3 minutes was usually a good staple for children at Soonyoung and Wonwoo’s age. 

Just long enough for them to calm down and reflect on their bad behaviour but not too long that they start to feel anxious and bored. 

Once the timer beeps Soonyoung is quick to rush into his arms, apology muffled by Jeonghan’s shirt. “Soonie sowwy, Hannie-Appa, Soonie no jump in tub anymore.” 

“And why do we not jump in the tub?” Jeonghan prompts, urging for Soonyoung to figure out the reason for his time-out on his own. 

“Because Soonie can fall and hurt.”

“That’s right, Soonyoungie, Hannie-Appa doesn’t want Soonyoungie to get hurt, do you understand?” Soonyoung nods, hugging Jeonghan tightly around his waist and apologising once more. Wonwoo comes to join them not long after, muttering his own apology and hugging him as well. 

He really doesn’t have the capacity to stay angry at his children for long, and he can already foresee how they’re going to take advantage of that in the future when they’re older and enter their rebellious phases. 

The two children smell of soap and fresh laundry as he kisses them both on the tops of their heads. Bath times really are a wonderful thing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another short in-between chapter!!! Another seventeen babby is coming soon I promise!! The chapter is already all written and ready to go and I honestly can't wait to introduce him ;) If anyone's managed to figure out the order already kudos to you, but for all those who haven't I'll give you all a little hint: how many years have all of them been trainees?? ;) Hope you can figure out who's coming up next... Honestly babby soonwoo is possibly my favourite thing ever because they're just so precious I cannot--they're so soft and fluffy and ahhhhh. Also to just clarify the timeline a little: 
> 
> Seungcheol and Jeonghan are both 25 in Year 2, they were 24 when Jihoon came and they met when they were in high school and started dating when they were 18. They got married after graduating from university and moved to a house in the suburbs that Seungcheol's family helped them buy where they started their foster home :) More details to be added as we go along this journey through their lives :D
> 
> Hope everyone enjoyed this fluffy ass soonwoo self indulgence, feel free to leave a comment and kudos and tell me what you thought! I love reading everyone's comments it brings such a big smile to my face!


	6. Adoption Papers

**Year 2, October 27th**

**Seungcheol misplaced the adoption papers but thank god this was already foreseen and photocopies have been made.**

 

“Appa!” Soonyoung screeches from inside the house, followed by the sound of something heavy falling to the ground with a thud. Jeonghan is suddenly very grateful for Seungcheol’s suggestion to get most of the house carpeted. His werewolf husband is already clumsy enough as it is, throw a bunch of toddlers into the mix and you get a lot of broken wedding gifts. 

Jihoon isn’t anywhere in sight which is enough to give Jeonghan a bad feeling, he swore he’d last seen them playing in the mini sand pit just a moment ago. “Wonwoo-yah?” Wonwoo is fortunately still where Jeonghan left him, sitting in the shallow kiddy pool Jeonghan had helped to inflate that morning before work as he plays with some colourful plastic cups. It’s a little chilly in Jeonghan’s opinion to be outside playing in water, but Wonwoo seems happy so who is he to complain about entertaining his kids. “Stay there, okay? Jeonghan-Appa is going to go save your brothers.” 

Wonwoo nods in response, levitating some water out of the pool with a serious expression. Not needing to worry about Wonwoo slipping into the water and drowning while he’s gone, Jeonghan hurries over to where he’d heard Soonyoung calling from to rescue him from Jihoon. “Soonyoungie? Jihoonie?” 

A blur of red and gold rushes by him before he can even make it through the sliding glass door, and in quick pursuit is a head of white hair and a fluffy, swinging tail. “APPAAAAA!” Soonyoung screams as he cowers behind Jeonghan’s legs, clutching onto him tightly for protection against the vengeful ball of white fluff known as Jihoon. “HOONIE WANT KILL SOONIE!” 

Feeling a little overwhelmed by the flurry of small children suddenly running between his legs, Jeonghan can only watch for a moment as the kitsune makes a flying leap for the dragon hybrid, fingers grabbing at the older boy’s wings. Snapping out of his reverie, Jeonghan pulls his fox baby off of Soonyoung and holds him back against his chest tightly, ignoring the boy’s furious struggling. 

“Why are you two fighting!” he scolds, holding the two away at arm’s length. Jihoon has been acting up more often as of recently, and Jeonghan would like to say that it’s plain childhood unruliness but he knows it’s much more than that. Jihoon had taken his eldest brother’s recent departure very hard indeed. 

The kitsune has a scowl painted on his chubby cheeks, still trying to get at Soonyoung despite Jeonghan’s warning look. Soonyoung has a few budding tears in his eyes along with what looks like a skinned knee that immediately sets off a few warning bells in Jeonghan’s head. The two had been playing outside so that meant dirt and bacteria and infection and he really wants to sort this whole argument out quickly so he can clean out that cut before anything sets in. 

“Jihoonie, why are you chasing your brother?” Jeonghan says, voice calm and low because he knows Jihoon doesn’t react well to loud noises and shouting. Jihoon looks up at him in betrayal at him taking Soonyoung’s side, tail twitching unhappily behind him. 

Soonyoung answers before Jihoon can. “Hoonie say Hyung hate us! That why Hyung go away! So Soonie angry!” 

Jeonghan feels the punch in the gut just as fresh as if it had just happened yesterday. He’s never experienced the feeling of losing a child before but that incident would possibly be the closest he’s ever come to it. Jihoon’s previously indignant eyes suddenly look a lot sadder; the kitsune had been the closest out of the three to their eldest brother. 

“Jihoonie…” 

“Hyung promise he stay, Hyung lie! Hate Hyung!” Jihoon’s eyes are glinting as the anger on his face crumples and his lower lip begins to tremble, the sight of his tears threatening to draw Jeonghan’s own. “Hate Hyung! Hate Hyung! _Hate Hyung!_ Hyung no love us-“

“Jihoon!” Jeonghan shouts, instantly regretting it as the boy’s blue eyes widen in shock and his expression goes completely blank. Even Soonyoung has stopped his instant tugging at Jeonghan’s clothes, head bowed and wings drooping sadly behind him. Jeonghan has to resist the urge to curse at his own stupidity; he’d always made it a point to try and never raise his voice with the kids, him and Seungcheol believing more in explaining mistakes and learning from then than punishment.

He sighs, ignoring the stabbing pain in his heart from the still fresh wound. “I’m sorry, Jihoonie, I shouldn’t have shouted,” he tries to reach for Jihoon and Soonyoung but the former shrinks away from him, face still unreadable. “But you should never say that Hyung didn’t love us, okay? Hyung loved us all very very much.” 

“Then why Hyung no stay?” Soonyoung asks, ever direct as always.  

Unable to find a suitable explanation that a three year old would understand, Jeonghan leans forward in favour of pressing soft kisses to both of his beloved children’s foreheads, breathing in the familiar smell of baby powder and dirt. 

“Hyung had to go to his new family, Appa is sorry he wasn’t fast enough and couldn’t keep Hyung with us. It’s Appa’s fault, he’s so so sorry.” 

If they’d been a month, a week quicker then maybe… 

Why had they waited for so long? 

“But you two don’t have to worry, okay? Seungcheol-Appa is talking to the mister at social services today so all three of you will be ours forever and ever,” he promises, wiping away the thin tear tracks down Jihoon’s cheeks with his thumbs and shushing the boy as he sniffles wetly. “We won’t ever let you three go, not again.” 

Wonwoo has emerged from his sanctuary in the kiddie pool and joins the group, dripping water all over the patio but Jeonghan can’t bring himself to care. Wonwoo presses a small hand to Jeonghan’s own cheek and pulls it away with a small droplet of water hovering in his palm, wiping the tears Jeonghan hadn’t even realised he’d shed in the most Wonwoo fashion possible. “No cry, Appa, you say crying bad.” 

He can’t help but laugh at that, nodding. “You’re right, Wonwoo-yah, no crying because today is a happy day! We’ll all be a real family from today onwards!” 

Surprisingly it’s Soonyoung that shakes his head at that. “No, Appa, always real family because Soonie love Nonu and Hannie-Appa and Cheollie-Appa and Hoonie! Love love love!”

“And we all love you too, very very mu-“ 

His phone blares out some obnoxiously cheery children’s song that Jihoon had set as his ringtone from inside the house and Jeonghan freezes, already suspecting who the caller would be. They’d already sorted through 99% of the paperwork and today was just meant to be a final confirmation, nothing could have gone wrong, right?

The memory of a gentle smile and large, doe-like eyes comes to the forefront of his mind and he winces, heart pounding violently in his chest. 

He grabs the phone and returns to the patio, not trusting his legs to be able to hold him and sits down. Soonyoung and Jihoon are fighting for the space on his lap so he pulls both of them up to rest on either thigh, Wonwoo leaning against his side (and completely drenching his shirt but it’s fine, they all need a nice, long bath after this anyways). Seungcheol’s contact name had never looked this ominous to him before, including the time when they’d gone through a rough patch and Jeonghan had spent every other second wondering if the werewolf would ask to break up. 

Procrastinating…

“Hello?” he turns on the speakerphone for the kids to hear after he swipes to answer the call. 

_“Hello beautiful husband of mine,”_ Seungcheol replies, and Jeonghan feels unbelievably relieved at how calm his voice is. Good news, that must mean, good news. 

“Appa!” Jihoon shouts, shoving at Soonyoung to get closer to the phone. Wonwoo and Soonyoung quickly follow up with their own greetings, filling the air with squeals and giggles and light tussle. 

Jeonghan can already picture the way Seungcheol’s face would split into a wide smile at the sound of his fox baby’s voice, his eyes crinkling at the corners and his lovely dimples on show. _“Hey kids! Have you all been good for Hannie-Appa today?”_

“Yes…” the three boys chorus, perfectly in sync. 

“Jihoonie and Soonyoungie got into a fight just now, Soonyoungie’s got a scraped knee,” Jeonghan feels no shame in tattling, knowing full well that his husband has always been the better of the two at reprimanding the kids. It must be the natural alpha wolf disposition, it really gives him an authoritative feel. 

_“Ohh? Were you boys lying to me just now? And what have I said about fighting?”_  

Jihoon is openly sulking now, pouting at the phone as if his Appa would be able to see him, well aware of how weak Seungcheol was to sad faces and how to use it to his devilish little three year old advantage. “That we use words not actions,” Jihoon says quietly, the sentence well ingrained in his head after his countless little debacles with Soonyoung. 

Wonwoo just doesn’t get into fights, wonderful boy he is. 

_“That’s right, Hoonie. And you all lied to me, that means I won’t tell you my big_ big _surprise because you’ve been naughty,”_ Seungcheol sounds serious and solemn but Jeonghan can tell that he’s teasing, already more than used to his various quirks and tones after so many years. 

“ _I_ wasn’t lying, Seungcheol-Appa!” Wonwoo pipes up, earning himself a fond laugh. 

_“Of course you weren’t, Wonnie, so I suppose on account of how good Wonwoo has been today, I’ll tell you my surprise anyways.”_

The three boys cheer and Jeonghan can’t fight his own smile at their adorableness. 

_“We’re all officially and legally a family from today onwards! Hoonie and Soonie and Wonnie are all our sons!”_

Jeonghan is pretty sure the boys got less than 40% of the sentence, but they laugh and cheer along with Seungcheol nonetheless, and the sheer relief that comes crashing down on him gets him cheering with them as well. 

They’re finally theirs. The legal process has been difficult, especially in Soonyoung’s case since his parents’ statuses aren’t actually known. But they’ve done it. They’ve gotten their boys to stay with them and nothing can take them away ever again. No more mistakes. No more waiting. 

They can finally be a real family. 

 

* * *

  

“I lost the papers, you know?” Seungcheol murmurs to him in the dark as they lie in bed that night, the boys already cleaned and dressed and sound asleep. Jeonghan honestly wants to feel surprised, but he really isn’t. 

He buries his face in his husband’s neck, breathing in his smell and sighing in contentment. “I knew you would, that’s why I stuffed like five extra sets of photocopies all over the car and in all of your bags and coats, just in case.” 

“You’re a lifesaver, Hannie, what would I do without you?” 

Jeonghan traces a finger over the planes of Seungcheol’s firm chest, taking great satisfaction in how he left goosebumps in his wake. “Well, for starters, we wouldn’t have three beautiful children to now call our own.” 

Somehow Seungcheol manages to find his lips in the darkness and meets them with his own, kissing him deeply for a few moments before pulling away for breath. “And I wouldn’t have this beautiful, sexy husband of mine to raise them with me.” 

He wraps his arms around Seungcheol’s neck to join their lips again, this time without pulling away.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Who's ready for the new seventeen babby? *whispers* me. It's coming soon, I promise. Some people seem to have managed to guess already but just to up the anticipation factor: be prepared for Channie ;) I know Mingyu is supposed to be before him but I messed up some dates and yeah, but Channie is coming, get ready. This chapter was just another fluff ball, and I wonder if anyone caught on to the little hint I threw in there to one of the upcoming babbies? ;) Also another little spoiler: I'm a total Jun stan and he's my ulti bias, so obviously I gave him the saddest backstory, sorry fellow Jun stans--but it'll be a good one nonetheless. 
> 
> Hope everyone enjoyed this new fluffy chapter :D Leave a review and some kudos if you like, thanks for reading :))))


	7. Chan

**Chan (Year 3, February 16th)**

**Neither of them were ready for an infant.**

 

“He’s so little!” Soonyoung exclaims, grabbing at the bars of the crib to try and squeeze his face between them to see inside of it. His little 10:10 eyes are wide with wonder, his mouth forming an ‘o’ as he reaches a hand through to poke at the figure within. “Soonie like him!” 

Jeonghan smiles affectionately at his (now official) kids, watching from his seat on the edge of the bed as Soonyoung attempts to climb up Wonwoo’s back to see into the crib from the top. This action while albeit rather dangerous especially with the new baby (and _Jihoon_ ) so close by, Jeonghan isn’t really worried; he knows Wonwoo would never let his brother fall. And besides, if Soonyoung does end up falling and bruising himself up, Jeonghan considers it a good lesson to not climb on his siblings and it will probably (read: hopefully) discourage him from doing it again in the future. 

It was no point telling kids not to do certain things over and over again, honestly he’s quite sure they don’t really understand whatever they tell them anyways. As far as he’s concerned (but will not tell Seungcheol about because goodness knows that man is far too protective), a few cuts and bruises here and there aren’t bad as long as they’re cleaned out properly. 

He digresses. 

Little Chan makes the most adorable yawning sound and Soonyoung positively _squeals_ in delight, stroking a small finger up and down Chan’s equally tiny cheek. Wonwoo, as usual, is simply sticking to Soonyoung’s side, not really questioning anything but just enjoying being around his brother. Jihoon, on the other hand, has seated himself as far away from the baby as possible within the moderately sized master bedroom, sulking silently as he plays with his stuffed wolf toy. 

Jihoon really doesn’t like newcomers, especially after the last incident… 

“Soonyoungie, be careful with Channie, he’s still very delicate, okay?” he doubts Soonyoung really understands the meaning of ‘delicate’ but the boy nods solemnly and pulls his hand away. The bedsprings creak a little beneath his weight as Jeonghan stands up, wings helping him find his balance. He checks the clock—just about time for Chan’s feeding again. 

  
They’ve never had a child come to them quite as young as Chan before, the boy barely even a week old when he passed through their doors. Jeonghan finds himself a little overwhelmed at times, what with the constant feeding and changing, but thankfully enough the boy isn’t too much of a crier so he has a little semblance of peace, at least. He’s not sure if it’s due to the angel blood flowing through Chan’s teeny tiny veins, but he feels a sense of protectiveness that he hasn’t quite felt so strongly with any of his kids before. 

Perhaps it’s because the boy is so, so young. 

Perhaps it’s because his very own mother had tried to kill him. 

Chan feels small and light in his arms as Jeonghan carries him, the small bottle of prepared milk already in hand. The little half-angel fusses and squirms as he tries to get him to latch onto the sucker of the bottle, eventually tiring and relenting and sucking hungrily at the slightly warmed milk. What with the rather complicated status of Chan’s heritage, he and Seungcheol had been a bit worried about how his system would react with milk that wasn’t his mother’s, though after a quick clearance from their paediatrician those worries had soon been put to rest. 

His mind is already whirring through the schedule for the remaining part of the day until Seungcheol gets back to help him out; dealing with four very small children has proven to be more challenging than he had anticipated. After he feeds Chan he’ll need to make a start on lunch and prep for dinner, then he’ll need to change Chan and play with the others and then bathe them and-

“Appa, hungry,” Jihoon finally moves away from his little isolated corner to tug at the hem of Jeonghan’s shirt, his snowy white hair looking a bit too greasy for Jeonghan’s liking. The kitsune’s eyes are downcast and the soft rumbling sound that echoes from his belly makes Jeonghan’s own stomach shrivel up in guilt. He had woken them up a little earlier for breakfast than he usually did because of Chan but he hadn’t known just how much that little extra half an hour would throw off their schedules. 

Jeonghan kisses the top of Jihoon’s head in apology. “I’m sorry baby, we’ll eat right after I put Channie down, you can help Appa stir the pasta sauce too, you like doing that, right?” Jihoon nods, albeit a little more hesitantly than usual, picking up his wolf toy once again and hugging it close to his chest. He knows very well that the boy adores the wolf plush so much because it reminds him of Seungcheol, and seeing him hold it so tightly for comfort even when Jeonghan is right there with him still makes him feel very much guilty. 

Chan doesn’t appear (smell)  like he needs any changing so he sets him back into his crib, turning on the baby monitor and attaching its pair to the drawstring of his sweatpants. Jeonghan pushes open the bedroom door, scooping Jihoon up onto his shoulders and making plane noises as he scuttles out towards the kitchen, Soonyoung and Wonwoo laughing and running after him happily. 

He pushes aside how utterly frazzled he’s feeling in favour of grabbing the boys’ favourite macaroni in its glass jar on the top shelf (placed there after several close calls involving a certain three (nearly four) year old dragon hybrid). He measures out their usual portion of macaroni plus a little extra, just in case the boys have a bit more of an appetite than usual. 

If there’s any leftovers his husband will _gladly_ help to clear them, Jeonghan feels he should be jealous of how much the werewolf can eat without putting on anything more than muscle mass but there’s a sick sort of satisfaction he gets from watching his family eat his food so he says nothing. He especially loves watching Jihoon, the boy is still as tiny as ever despite all these years of stuffing him with as much food as is healthy for him so watching him eat just feels so _good_. 

Okay he’s starting to sound like a pervert, he’ll stop. 

The bolognese recipe he uses is simple enough so he lets his mind drift a little as he dumps the macaroni in the boiling pot of water. He hasn’t been giving the boys enough attention today so he’ll need to play with them a bit after lunch to get their energy down for nap time, he needs to wash their blankets too since they’re getting a little grubby, then Chan needs to be changed and fed again. He sighs deeply; he can do this, he can do this. 

“Come on Jihoonie, help Appa stir the sauce,” he sets Jihoon down on the step stool he’s dragged over in front of the stove and wraps his hand around Jihoon’s on the wooden spoon, swirling it around in the sauce in slow circles. The fire has already been turned off so honestly this stirring isn’t really doing anything but Jihoon likes helping with cooking and Jeonghan doesn’t want him too near to fire and bubbling hot liquids so this is the best compromise he can come up with. Wonwoo only likes helping when he’s making ramen and Soonyoung should not be trusted near food ever so Jihoon is his usual go-to helper. 

Once the kitsune has deemed the sauce sufficiently stirred he looks up at Jeonghan expectantly, and Jeonghan can’t help but smile despite the growing stress eating at him as he returns Jihoon down to level ground and takes out their designated bowls. White (and vaguely stained) for Jihoon, blue for Wonwoo, and orange for Soonyoung; keeping belongings colour coded is the only way to be organised in a house of three (now four) young children. 

Not to mention it encourages the boys to take better care of their own things, so that’s always a plus. 

He’s about to spoon the last portion of pasta out for Soonyoung when the sound of screaming blares out from Chan’s monitor, making the both of them jump and Jeonghan to spill a little of the pasta sauce onto the kitchen floor. Soonyoung looks antsy as Chan continues to scream and cry, the sound now loud enough to reverberate through the house. Jeonghan hurriedly scoops up the dragon hybrid’s portion and sets the bowl down on the dining table, his actions a little more hurried than usual as he makes sure all three boys are sat down and eating. 

“Watch your brothers,” he tells Wonwoo, trusting the nereid to keep Jihoon and Soonyoung from any trouble while he’s gone. The boy nods around a spoonful a macaroni, wiping some pasta sauce from around Soonyoung’s mouth with his other hand as the latter stuffs his face. 

The ‘no running in the house’ rule is set to the side as he rushes to the bedroom, chest squeezing at the sight of the infant sobbing his little heart out within his crib. Jeonghan picks Chan up and gives a delicate sniff at his diaper to check if he needs a changing and scrunches his nose up as he confirms that, carrying the baby to the changing table in the nursery. 

Now, Jeonghan might seem a little more prissy and afraid to get his hands dirty than Seungcheol might, but really it’s his mate that is the most squeamish about changing diapers and cleaning messes than he is. While he did prefer to keep his hands free and clean from any sort of mess when he was younger, he finds that it doesn’t really bother him when it comes to his kids. That said, the humongous mess that Chan has somehow made in his diaper still has him a little taken aback when he first sees it, but he gets to cleaning Chan up without much pause. 

He’s just about finished when the sound of plastic cutlery clattering against the tiled floor around the dining table rings out, followed by a indignant whine of complaint and yet more clanging. “APPA! SOONYOUNG TOOK MY PASTA!” Jihoon shouts, the loud sound making Jeonghan wince and the previously calmed Chan to start crying once again. 

“DID NOT!” Soonyoung shouts back, just as equally loud as the kitsune. “HOON’S LYING!” 

Jeonghan tries to keep himself calm in order to not stress Chan even more, soothing his little half-angel once he’s nice and clean with a new diaper on. He holds Chan in his arms as he returns back to the dining room, heart sinking to his still empty stomach at the sight of dark red bolognese all over his clean floor. In addition to the mess on the floor, Soonyoung and Jihoon’s hands and clothes are absolutely covered with sauce as well, and he can’t help but panic as little as he literally _watches_ the red stain into their shirts and trousers. Even _Wonwoo_ is looking a little upset, and the nereid barely shows any emotion. 

The boys had been perfectly behaved just minutes ago, why were they all so unsettled now? 

And fantastic, Chan’s crying _again._  

Soonyoung looks two seconds away from running towards him for comfort and images of him slipping on the sauce and falling flash through Jeonghan’s mind. “No, don’t move, Soonyoungie, let Appa clean everything up first, just finish your food,” he tries to keep his voice steady and relaxed, knowing that if he shows visible signs of panic that’ll just lead to the children being even more so. 

First order of business: put Chan down. 

He creates a fort with the mountain of pillows they have on the living room couch, setting Chan down within it so he can keep an eye on him while he cleans up the dining room. However, not even a second after he lets go of the boy does he start to wail and bawl even louder than before, throwing his hastily thought up plan out of the window. Chan’s aura is a dark blue-black of unhappiness and Jeonghan feels himself trembling slightly in frustration as he watches the colour bleed into the auras of his other children. He’s a little tempted to just leave him to cry for a second so that he can take care of the other kids but he feels his heart breaking with every choked sob the boy lets out and unable to do so. 

No amount of parenting books or classes could have prepared him to take care of a newborn and three kids under the age of five, and he’s utterly _disgusted_ and _ashamed_ of himself as he stands on the spot, panicking and torn between comforting Chan and taking care of his other boys. 

_Maybe he should call Seungcheol-_

The thought comes and goes in a second, Jeonghan refusing to disturb his husband at work when this is _his_ designated duty and he _should_ be able to handle it himself no problem. 

His indecisiveness carries on a count too long as the three year olds grow restless and start to vocally complain, their cries joining Chan’s in one single, deafening buzz of noise. He looks back towards his older children just in time to watch Soonyoung disobey him and move from his seat, his little feet landing right in a puddle of sauce and flying out from under him in a flash. 

The loud _thump_ that follows feels like a punch straight to the gut, and the pained wails from Soonyoung who usually _never_ cries even when his knees are bruised and bloody cut slowly at Jeonghan’s heart. “Soonyoung!” Wonwoo shouts, rushing to his brother to comfort him, also seeming rather shaken at the sight of the dragon hybrid’s tears. 

_“Appaaaaa!”_ Soonyoung cries, his elbows a bright, angry red as he reaches up to rub at his eyes. Jihoon seems to have had enough of the noise as he shifts into his fox form (a habit he finds comfort in when being human seems a bit too much for him) and dashes away to his usual hiding place beneath the sofa, tracking paw prints of red sauce with him as he goes. 

He can’t do this. 

Jeonghan manages to help Soonyoung up while still holding Chan in his other arm, wiping away the boy’s tears and kissing his bruises. He pulls out his phone from his pocket and presses it to his ear with his shoulder, feeling frustrated tears burning in his eyes as he attempts to calm a still screeching Chan while wiping up the mess on the floor with a paper towel _and_ comforting the other boys at the same time. 

_“Hello darling husband, you don’t usually call me at work, is anything up?”_ Jeonghan resists the urge to snap and ask Seungcheol if he’s gone deaf because can he _seriously_ not hear the commotion and crying in the background. He knows he’s only feeling so short tempered because of the chaos going on in the house right now, and his husband deserves better than to have him yelling at him. 

He swallows wetly, pulling a pouting Soonyoung and jumpy Wonwoo onto his lap and patting their heads. “Can you come home early today, I need help, please _Cheol_.” 

Jeonghan feels humiliated at how weak he is as his voice cracks on the last word, feeling utterly unworthy of the responsibility that he’s been entrusted with as Wonwoo, his _child_ , reaches up to wipe the liquid away. What if Seungcheol gets mad at him for asking him to leave work? What if they have to give Chan back?

He doesn’t know quite where this sense of sheer panic is coming from but he feels it hard and crushing in his chest, tightening its hold around his lungs and making it hard to breathe. 

He should be rubbing cream on Soonyoung’s bruise and giving all of them a bath right now—heck, they shouldn’t even be in this situation at all. But he’s failed them as a parent, he’s failed-

“Baby, baby, no don’t cry, I’ll be back in twenty minutes max, it’s okay to be a little overwhelmed, don’t cry _please_?” he can hear his mate packing up his things in the background and guilt joins in with the panic. “You’ve never handled so many young kids at once before, especially not one as young as Chan, it’s okay, Hannie, I’ll be back soon to help so just hold down the fort a little while longer, okay?” 

“Okay,” he replies wetly, letting his husband’s voice bring him just a little bit of comfort. 

“I love you,” Seungcheol says, still calm and earnest in a way that makes Jeonghan relax ever so slightly. “You’ve done well, baby, you’ve done your best.”

He hasn’t, nowhere near it in fact, but Jeonghan lets Seungcheol’s soothing words wash over him anyways. 

“I love you too.” 

 

* * *

 

Chan is crying again. 

Seungcheol turns his head at the sound of rustling sheets, his beautiful, tired, tightly wound mate already on the move to go and comfort their youngest child before Seungcheol is even fully conscious. Jeonghan has always been quite a heavy sleeper, usually unwilling to wake up for anything less than an earthquake before at least 7:30 in the morning. So the sight of him awake and on the move at two in the morning despite the obvious exhaustion prominent in the dark circles beneath his eyes claws painfully at Seungcheol’s heart, his alpha disapproving and unhappy at not taking better care of his mate. 

“Hannie,” he croaks out, his voice dry and hoarse from sleep. The angel turns to look at him wearily, still looking like the most beautiful person Seungcheol has ever seen despite the pallor of his skin and the fatigue in his eyes. “Hannie, go back to bed, I’ll handle it this time, you need more sleep.”

“I can’t sleep with Channie crying anyways, it’s fine-“ 

“ _Bed_ ,” he repeats himself, injecting as much alpha authority into his voice as he can to get Jeonghan to actually listen to him. 

The angel is typically a lot more resistant to his alpha commands, so the lack of any fight Jeonghan puts up before sliding back under their soft sheets and closing his eyes is testament enough as to how truly worn out he is. Seungcheol gets up instead, running a hand through his hair to push it off of his forehead and wincing as Chan’s cries get even louder in volume and higher in pitch. 

They’d known what they were getting into when Seokjin had called about them taking in a newborn, and despite their house already being rather rambunctious at the moment with the three boys, they just couldn’t turn away a little boy that needed them. Seungcheol wasn’t too worried about himself losing a little sleep right now, just about his husband and their three boys possibly being awoken by the (very) loud crying. If they woke up now they’d just be grumpy all day, and Seungcheol already knew that Jeonghan was going to be dead on his feet tomorrow. 

A pang of guilt hits him at the realisation that he’ll be leaving his husband behind at home to handle four kids all on his own again but there’s only so many leave days he can take before his boss starts taking notice. 

“Channie, Channie, what’s the matter, Channie?” he coos at the boy, fighting down a yawn that tries to claw its way up his throat in favour of lifting the boy out of the crib and heading to the living room where the sound won’t bother Jeonghan’s sleep anymore. The infant feels rather unnaturally warm in his arms though his sleep addled brain doesn’t quite register the stark difference in temperature and instead sniffs at the boy’s diaper to check if he needs changing. 

He smells _relatively_ clean so Seungcheol wonders if he’s hungry. 

It isn’t until Chan’s tear filled eyes open that he feels himself truly panic. 

The whites and irises of the boy’s eyes are flashing between the bright gold of a true angel form and a bottomless pitch black, the change happening so quickly and frequently that it blurs in Seungcheol’s vision. As he readjusts his hold around Chan he feels the spot on his back where his wings would be were he a pureblooded angel shift and bubble beneath his fragile newborn skin, almost as if something were trying to break free from it. 

The next loud wail that Chan lets out nearly has Seungcheol jumping in fear, the scream sounding hollow yet echoed at the same time, piercing yet numbing; it’s like nothing he’s ever heard. 

Which is understandable, seeing as how he’s never met a demon before. 

The sensation of panic and distress that finds itself worming into his chest has Seungcheol feeling like he’s about to cry or throw up or both, and it’s only the authoritative presence of his alpha wolf that keeps him from dropping Chan and fleeing far, far away. From what he’s learnt from Jeonghan over these years of being together, some angels and demons have the ability to influence the emotions and thoughts of those around them, be it unconsciously in the case of children or deliberately in adults. 

Chan has both angel and demon blood flowing through his veins, so does that mean that this ability is only doubled in potency? 

The heat radiating off of the boy’s skin finally hits him and he wonders just how he hadn’t noticed it before, his own forearms an angry, raw pink from the slight burns caused by it. He’s torn between waking Jeonghan up to ask what’s happening to the poor baby and hopping into his car and rushing them to the hospital, because the thing with Chan’s eyes and this heat is definitely not normal or _okay_ in any sense of the word. 

Finally he sets the boy down on the sofa while he runs to fill a basin with cool water, retrieving a soft cloth from their linen closet on his way back. Chan is still thrashing and crying when he returns, the cushions beneath his head already dark and wet from his tears. Seungcheol honestly feels like crying himself, now finally understanding just how desperate and helpless his husband must have felt when he’d called him at work the other day. 

He strips the boy of his sleeping bag and his onesie, wincing as the heat hits him in full blast now without the barrier of clothes standing between them. Seungcheol soaks the cloth in the cold water and squeezes out any excess, slowly wiping over the boy’s bright red, overheated skin to try and cool him down. When the liquid on the cloth starts to actually feel like its boiling Seungcheol realises this will do him no good and instead slowly starts to lower Chan into the basin entirely, the water rapidly warming up the more the boy is submerged. 

Seungcheol continues to use the cloth to smooth over the boy’s head and face and any other bits of skin not submerged in the water, pressing comforting and apologetic kisses to Chan’s forehead as the demon-angel continues to cry in (what Seungcheol now figures is) pain. “I’m sorry baby boy, Cheollie is sorry you’re hurting, I’m so so sorry, _shhh_ …” 

Chan doesn’t stop crying for much, _much_ longer. 

  
Not until his eyes have returned to their usual brown irises and his skin returned to a normal temperature, until wings were not threatening to burst free from his back, until his very being wasn’t trying to tear him apart from the inside out. 

But even long after his tears have dried and he’s dressed for sleep once again, Seungcheol finds himself in a chair beside Chan’s crib, watching the boy breathe as he sleeps soundly despite the utter agony he must have been through just moments prior. 

And not for the first time, Seungcheol wishes he could take on his children’s pain for himself. 

 

* * *

 

“Our specialists are _unsure_ -“

“Then why are they called specialists?” Seungcheol bites out, reminding himself to a keep a reign on his temper and that the doctor speaking with him is only doing his job. “Surely you must have some idea why he’s been waking up every other night screaming in pain because _I don’t know how to help him_ so you have to give me some answers here.”

The doctor purses his lips, staring at Seungcheol and Chan who’s currently gurgling happily in his arms with pity. “Our hypothesis is because of his taboo parentage, the two bloods have not quite found harmony in him just yet so they are fighting for control of his body and outward appearance.” 

“Taboo?” 

“Yes,” the doctor nods, “there’s a reason why the angel and demon clans live so far away from each other, why there’s not more news of demon-angels like Chan circling around—it’s forbidden, and for good reason as you’ve seen.” 

Seungcheol’s skull throbs a little at the memory of the near nightly horrors both he and Jeonghan have to watch their baby Chan go through. Yes, good reason indeed. 

“He was a product of rape, I’ve heard?” the doctor brings up quietly, nervously awaiting Seungcheol’s reaction. 

He winces at the lack of tact, the straightforward words yanking him back to the day Chan was brought to them. Seokjin had even delivered the boy to them personally, a job the veela typically preferred to pass on to his underlings. Chan had looked so, so small that day, so weak and fragile. 

Seungcheol hums in reply, still caught up in the memory of Chan swaddled up in Seokjin’s arms, the veela staring at them with sad eyes. They’d been told a few days in advance that Chan would be coming, but he’d need to stay a few extra days at the hospital first for the doctors to monitor him. 

_“His mother tried to smother him with a pillow once the nurse was out of the room, thankfully they were able to save him in time but she was deemed unfit to raise him as well as the rest of her family,” Seokjin says quietly, passing Chan over to Jeonghan who cradles the boy carefully. “The only thing she gave him was his name, Chan, a bit unusual but he’s a special case too so I guess it’s fitting.”_

_The werewolf walks Seokjin back out to his car, shivering slightly from the remaining cold of winter despite his own naturally raised body temperature. “He was conceived of violence and born into it as well, but I know you two will take good care of him and make sure he doesn’t grow up with it too,” Seokjin smiles at him from the open car window, the engine a low thrum that cuts into the silence of the night. “Goodnight, Seungcheol-ssi.”_

_“You too, Seokjin-ssi, drive safely.”_

The doctor draws him out of his thoughts. “His mother was…?” 

“A demon,” Seungcheol says quickly, knowing the misconception already forming in the doctor’s mind. It would be so easy to think the incident had simply been another act of a demon having it out for an angel, and even he was guilty of that as well. Jeonghan had been absolutely furious to hear that one of his own brethren had been the one to commit such a heinous act, but his mate hadn’t been too in shock either, knowing full well that angels are not necessarily all angelic and pure. 

It was one of the reasons the two of them had moved to a neighbourhood as far away from Jeonghan’s family as possible when they got married, despite multiple protests from Jeonghan’s mother. 

“That’s unexpected.” 

Chan yawns and shifts around in Seungcheol’s hold, clearly displeased at not being in his comfy crib back home. Perhaps that’s a sign that this conversation has gone on too long, that they should be getting back in time for lunch. Seungcheol finds himself driving back slowly, extremely aware of Chan sleeping in his carrier in the back seat and ensuring he doesn’t go over humps too quickly or drive into any potholes on the road. His questions still remain unanswered and he still has no solid idea of what to do when Chan has another session, but he knows that he and Jeonghan will get through it, somehow. 

Because that’s what they’ve always done, and don’t plan on stopping anytime soon. 

 

* * *

 

“Come say hi to Channie, Jihoonie,” Jeonghan beckons, waving his fox baby over from where the white haired child is playing sulkily with the mini toy piano Seungcheol’s mother had bought him for Christmas. Ever since Chan came to live with them Jihoon has been a constant lump of moodiness and pouting, never coming too close whenever Chan was in the vicinity despite Soonyoung (and as a result, Wonwoo) being absolutely fascinated with the little halfer. 

Jihoon shakes his head stubbornly, turning his back to where he, Chan, Soonyoung, and Wonwoo are sat on the floor, the two soon-to-be four year olds trying to complete a puzzle that Jeonghan is pretty sure is missing a few pieces. Jeonghan fights the urge to sigh out loud, wondering just what he should do to get Jihoon to be more friendly with his brothers. Even though Soonyoung and Wonwoo have been with them for so long, Jihoon still seems to keep a wall between them, not letting the excitable dragon hybrid and stoic nereid from getting too close. 

In fact, ever since the two have come to stay, Jihoon has been clinging more and more to Seungcheol, his bias for his wolf-y parent growing ever more prominent. 

Jeonghan sets Chan down in the little protective foam pen they have set up in the living room and leaves him at the mercy of Soonyoung’s jabby little fingers for a moment, knowing full well the dragon hybrid has been dying to play with his littlest brother all day. He scoots over to sit beside Jihoon, rubbing a hand over the small boy’s back to calm him. “Jihoonie, can you show Appa what you’ve been playing?” 

The kitsune frowns for a moment, almost as if trying to decide if Jeonghan was just joking or not. Then his tiny fingers start padding across the plastic keys, the melody a little messy and at times very much off, but a recognisable ‘Twinkle Twinkle Little Star’ nonetheless. Jeonghan could vaguely recall Seungcheol sitting on the couch with Jihoon on his lap, holding onto the kitsune’s hands to softly tap out the song on the piano, but he hadn’t expected Jihoon to actually remember it. 

Jihoon has always been very fond of any toys relating to music or instruments, and perhaps that’s something that Jeonghan should start paying more attention to. 

“That’s so good, Jihoonie! Can you teach Appa? Appa’s not as good as you are.” 

For what seems like the first time in _years_ , Jihoon finally lets a smile spread across his chubby cheeks, nodding happily. He’s not a very good teacher, Jeonghan will admit, but the determination with which the kitsune holds Jeonghan’s hand to try and show him the right keys to press like Seungcheol had done for him, he can’t help but let the warm feeling he knows to be love spread throughout his body. 

He’s about halfway through the song when the familiar sound of Seungcheol’s car pulling up in the driveway has both Soonyoung and Jihoon’s heads snapping towards the front door, piano and puzzle abandoned as they hurry to greet him. Wonwoo is a little more shy, taking the time to slowly pile the puzzle pieces Soonyoung had thrown about in his excitement together before getting up to do the same. 

Jihoon is smiling brighter than ever as the front door opens, hopping up and down to get Seungcheol’s attention as his mate enters the house, eyes weary but still full of joy at the sight of his children. “Hello my little wolflings, have you been good boys for Hannie-Appa today?” 

Jeonghan rolls his eyes. “For the last time, Cheol, they’re not wolf pups,” he snarks, picking up Chan on his way to greet his husband as well. Seungcheol pouts in mock dejection, burying his face in Jihoon’s stomach and fake crying loudly to get the kitsune laughing. 

“Appa! Up! Up!” Jihoon makes grabby hands at Seungcheol, still jumping around on the spot. Seungcheol is about to bend down and do just what the boy asks when Chan starts whining from all the noise and excitement around him, thrashing in Jeonghan’s arms in displeasure. Seungcheol’s focus immediately turns to their youngest, cooing and soothing and taking the halfer from Jeonghan to cradle him himself. 

Jeonghan glances down just in time to notice the way their fox baby’s face crumples, the previously bright smile slipping from his cheeks and his arms falling to his sides. His tail droops sadly behind him, bottom lip quivering, and before Jeonghan can reach for him to pick him up instead, the kitsune’s clothes fall unceremoniously to the floor as the boy shifts into fox form, dashing off in the direction of the nursery despite Jeonghan’s shout. 

“Jihoonie! Come back!” he calls out to no avail, the boy long disappeared in a flash of bright white fur. 

Seungcheol meets his gaze in a mixture of concern and guilt, forehead creased. He sighs and leans forward to smooth out the wrinkles, kissing him lightly on the cheek. 

They’ll have to talk about this later. But for now, Jeonghan will go and find their baby.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And another babby is finally here!!!! I've been dying to post another introduction chapter for aaggeeeesss and here we are!! I hope it lived up to everyone's expectations, I worked pretty hard on this one. I hope I managed to convey Jeongcheol's growing responsibilities as parents well enough, please do leave some reviews and comments telling me what I can do better and such on, I'm always looking to improve :D For anyone who's still confused: Chan is a half angel-half demon hybrid and he has the unconscious ability to manipulate and affect the moods of people around him, hence why the older boys started fighting after Channie started crying. 
> 
> Hope you all enjoyed~ Leave some kudos and a comment, really makes my day :)


	8. Opening Up

**Year 3, February 28th**

**Jihoon has always been more withdrawn and quiet than their other kids, but with the reminder of schools and interaction with the outside world looming overhead maybe it’s time he learn not to be.**

 

“Have the two of you thought about maybe enrolling them in kindergarten? That way it won’t be so hectic for you to watch over all four kids at once, Jeonghan-ah,” Seungcheol’s mother was tottering about in the kitchen, presumably preparing lunch judging by all the banging and clanging going on. 

He loves his mother-in-law, he really does, and in all honesty, the woman is a far better parent than his own mother could ever have been. But sometimes she’s just a little… _much_. 

Jeonghan delays in his reply in favour of combing his fingers through Wonwoo’s messy (and growing steadily) hair, kissing his forehead just because he knows it’ll make the nereid flail awkwardly. “Cheol and I have discussed it, but we want to get them reading and writing and other basic skills by ourselves first before we send them out.”

Mrs. Choi peeks out from behind the wall divider with a stern expression. “Jeonghan-ah, you’re overworked and stressed enough as it is with a newborn on your hands, do you seriously want to take on the responsibility of teaching the boys how to read when there’s perfectly capable teachers in kindergarten to do it for you?” 

As if on cue, Chan starts whining and fussing for his milk, the bottle already warmed and prepared on the coffee table. “Soonyoungie, can you give Appa Channie’s milk?” he says, the boy in question hurrying to grab the bottle for his little brother. Soonyoung has always been so fond of Chan, even from the first time he’d seen him, it really makes Jeonghan feel all warm inside. 

“Well Eomeoni, we don’t really want the boys to have to learn something so important from a stranger, we’d rather they learn it at home and-“

“So how far along are they in reading?” she cuts him off, followed by the sound of the stove igniting and what he guesses is his second largest pan being placed on it. “How soon do you think they’ll be ready?” 

This question leaves him a bit flustered, because while he has made a start on teaching the three boys how to read and write, with the arrival of Chan he’s found himself with less and less time to follow up on it. He’s given them practice books and children’s picture books to try and get them more familiar with the skill, but so far he’s only ever seen Wonwoo actively making use of them. This doesn’t come as any sort of surprise to him; Wonwoo has always been better spoken than the other two anyways. 

He tries to figure out a way to structure his sentence so his words aren’t an outright lie. “I’ve made a good start, at least, though with Chan coming I’ve been trying to find my groove again and I haven’t had the time recently to-“

“You see!” his mother-in-law slides out into view, brandishing a long wooden spoon dripping with some sort of brown gravy in one hand. “You just don’t have the time, so why not send them to a teacher who will give them all the care and attention they will need while you have more time to give my son the care and attention _he_ needs.”

Jeonghan has absolutely no clue where she got the idea that he’s been neglecting his husband from, and it better not have been Seungcheol himself or he’s really going to make _sure_ he’s deprived of the aforementioned ‘ _care_ and _attention_ ’. In fact, just two nights ago they-

He’s gone off track. 

“Really, Eomeoni, I’ve nearly gotten used to the new routine with Chan here, I’ll be able to organise my time better soon enough so I can get back to teaching the boys.”

He bounces Chan slightly as he works on burping him, alternating between rubbing and patting at his back gently to get him to burp. It’s honestly a little sad how he knows from experience what forgetting to burp the baby will do, and his favourite white house shirt will never recover from the wrath of baby puke _ever_. 

The smell of food wafts into the living room after a while and both Soonyoung and Wonwoo’s attentions divert from playing with Chan, focusing instead on the source of the delicious smell. “Food’s ready!” his mother-in-law announces, a large dish of stirfried meat and vegetables in hand as she literally _twirls_ into the dining area. “Jeonghan-ah, go and fetch Jihoonie for lunch, I’ll get the other two ready.” 

Jihoon had closed himself in the nursery with his little toy piano the moment he’d smelled his grandmother coming in, refusing to come out despite both Jeonghan and his mother-in-law’s most desperate of pleas. The kitsune has been acting moody for the past few weeks, now even refusing his favourite parent’s affection in favour of playing by himself. Jeonghan’s at his wits end, he honestly has absolutely no idea what to do. 

After ensuring that Chan is laid comfortably in his foam pen and Soonyoung and Wonwoo prepared to eat, he makes the trudge to the nursery to retrieve his grumpy little fox baby. “Jihoonie~” he sings out, pushing open the door tentatively. “It’s time for lunch, come and eat with grandma and your brothers.”

The kitsune is sat at the little table set up by the window for their reading and writing lessons, his favourite toy placed lovingly on top of it. His little fingers don’t even pause in their pressing of the keys when Jeonghan enters the room, and the angel feels very much impressed at just how much more smoothly the boy is playing than just a week or so ago. He’s loathe to disturb the boy while he seems so at peace but Jihoon does need to eat, and he must be hungry seeing as how he’d only picked at his breakfast that morning. 

“Jihoonie, why don’t we play together on your piano later? Come and eat with the family now, okay?” Jihoon scowls up at him as he tries to pick him up, clinging to his piano with whatever raw baby strength he can muster. “You can show Appa your piano later, okay? You need to eat, baby boy.”

“Not a baby!” Jihoon exclaims, finally managing to worm his way out of Jeonghan’s hold and back to his beloved piano. “I’m not your baby!”  
That hurts Jeonghan a lot more than it really should, a sharp stab to his heart that stings like all hell as Jihoon continues to stare angrily up at him. “Jihoon, don’t speak to me like that, it’s very rude.”

“You no love me anymore! Appa only love Chan and Soonyoung and Wonwoo!” 

That one feels like he’s been thrown into a vat of hot acid, eating away at his skin and bones until there’s none of him left. His baby, his precious little fox baby…

Jihoon thinks he doesn’t love him anymore. 

Jeonghan turns on his heels and exits the room, heart pounding fast and heavy in his chest. His ears are ringing too, so he barely hears his own voice when he apologises to his mother-in-law that he and Jihoon won’t be eating with the family, barely hears the clinking of cutlery and food as he fills a plate for himself and his little boy. Jihoon’s head is down when he returns to the nursery, hands clenched into fists on his laps. 

He can’t see the kitsune’s face but he catches the glint of light reflected off the tears falling slowly down his baby’s round cheeks, sees the shuddering of his shoulders as soft sobs wrack through his little body. The plate of food no longer stands of any importance as he rushes over to Jihoon, wrapping his arms as tightly as he can around his thin frame and dotting kisses all over his face. 

“Appa is sorry, Jihoonie, Appa is sorry,” he whispers as Jihoon finally relaxes in his hold and hugs him back, tears still streaming down his face and soaking into Jeonghan’s shirt. “Appa loves you so much, Hannie-Appa and Cheollie-Appa both knew we wanted to keep you from the very beginning, we love you so so much.” 

Jihoon sniffles loudly. “But Appa always with Chan now, Cheollie-Appa loves Chan more.” 

Jeonghan shakes his head firmly and rubs the tip of his nose against Jihoon’s in an eskimo kiss, wiping away the wet tracks on his face with his thumbs and stroking his hair. “No, we love all of our babies equally, we made a promise to do that when we adopted you. Appa will love Jihoonie forever and ever and ever, I promise.” 

He can tell that Jihoon still doesn’t fully believe him, but he’ll remind him as much as he needs to until Jihoon does. So he leans forward to kiss Jihoon’s head lovingly, running his fingers through the kitsune’s soft white hair and carefully untangling any knots that may have formed in his sleep. “Is my Jihoonie hungry? Grandma made some nice food for lunch for us, so we can eat in here with just the two of us, or would Jihoonie like to go and eat with grandma?”

The kitsune looks a little contemplative, gnawing on his lower lip and playing with his fingers. “Grandma is nice…” he says quietly, still looking down at his lap. 

“Do you want to go outside and say hi to grandma?” Jeonghan nudges, trying not to sound too forceful. “Grandma would be really _really_ happy to see Jihoonie…” 

Eventually, the small boy give an equally small nod, grasping at Jeonghan’s hand tightly. He can’t fight the smile of relief that creeps onto his face at that, giving the boy one more kiss before standing up with the plate of food and leading the pair of them back to the dining area. As he’d suspected, Soonyoung is still barely halfway through his bowl even though Wonwoo is just about done; the dragon hybrid has always been a very slow eater. 

  
Though, Soonyoung always finishes his food no matter how slow he does it, so Jeonghan can’t really find it in himself to complain about it. 

“Hoon!” Soonyoung shouts the moment he and Jihoon come into view, the kitsune huddling behind his legs and still squeezing his hand tightly. 

Jeonghan nudges him forwards as gently as he can, giving him a comforting pat on the head and sending him towards his usual spot at the long wooden dining table. He and Seungcheol used to have a much smaller glass table before the kids once upon a time, though when the kids started piling in and the realisation that children and breakable objects do not mix hit them, they quickly had it replaced for something much more family friendly. Jihoon’s still a little too small to reach the top of the table easily despite the kid’s special chairs, so his chair usually has a pillow placed on the seat unless it’s in the wash or being used elsewhere. 

Wonwoo is eyeing Jihoon silently, scraping up the remaining bits of his meal and chewing slowly. Even when he was younger Wonwoo had never been one of too many words, only really speaking when spoken to or when he had something really important to say. And though his aura was typically enough for Jeonghan to get a good grasp on his mood and needs, he was still pretty much unreadable.

He prepares a new bowl for Jihoon and sets it down in front of the boy, the kitsune staring down at the (slightly cold) stirfry and rice in silence. “Here, Jihoon-ah, have some more vegetables, they’re good for you,” his mother-in-law croons gently, placing a few extra bits of greens into the small boy’s bowl. Jihoon startles at this and glances up at his grandmother, nose twitching as he sniffs at her. 

Her scent must remind him enough of Seungcheol’s that he relaxes, finally raising a spoonful of meat and rice into his mouth to eat. 

Jeonghan sighs softly in relief, his stomach finally untwisting from the knot it’s wound itself into over these past few days. 

_This is a good start_ , he thinks to himself, _as good a start as any._

 

* * *

 

Jeonghan has always prided himself on his ability to sleep through just about anything (besides Chan’s crying), so it comes as quite a surprise even to himself that he finds himself startling awake in the middle of the night at the sound of his and Seungcheol’s bedroom door creaking open. He’s about to jerk upright in bed when his husband’s hand clamps down on his mouth and holds him in place, a whispered “ _shh_ ” being hissed in his ear. 

He’s not completely unfamiliar to the sensation of Seungcheol’s hand over his mouth, though this is undoubtedly a rather unfamiliar scenario in which for it to be occurring. Nevertheless he trusts his husband, staying completely still and glancing as subtly as he can towards the growing crack in the doorway. The light from the hallway lamps they keep on at night is pouring into the room, and Jeonghan can only pray that it doesn't wake Chan up in a fuss. 

Of all the things he had been expecting, his littlest boy had not been one of them. Jihoon is in his fox form (which would explain how he managed to escape his crib), his favourite white blanket hanging from his mouth and dragging behind him as he walks. Jihoon glances up at their bed nervously, and Jeonghan forces his breathing to slow and tries to stop his heart from pounding too loud. Eventually Jihoon peels his gaze away from his and Seungcheol’s (not) sleeping forms, shifting into his human form and hugging his blanket close. 

  
Seungcheol usually took the side furthest from the door despite Jeonghan’s protests, though now he’s never been more grateful for the front row view he has of Jihoon creeping slowly over to Chan’s crib, little feet silent against the carpet.   
  
For the briefest of moments Jeonghan feels himself panicking, wondering what exactly it is Jihoon is planning on doing with Chan at this late hour. He knows Jihoon isn’t too fond of Chan, but his fox baby wouldn’t _hurt_ him out of anger, _would he?_ Seungcheol’s hand finds his under the covers, fingers instinctively interlocking with his own and squeezing reassuringly. 

That calms him down. Jihoon is a good boy, he would never hurt one of his brothers beyond friendly play; he’s sure of it. 

Jeonghan can’t see the expression on Jihoon’s face because of the light coming in behind him, but he can see the flicking grey and blue tones of nervousness in his aura, the slight tremor in his hands as he reaches in between the bars of Chan’s crib. His fingers hover just above the smooth exposed skin of Chan’s little face, the young halfer still (thankfully) sound asleep. Jeonghan doesn’t even breathe as Jihoon’s hand finally lowers that extra few centimetres, small fingers stroking gently against Chan’s equally small face. 

“Jihoon sorry,” the kitsune whispers to Chan’s sleeping form, still continuing his gentle petting. “Jihoon don’t hate Channie, Jihoon is Channie’s Hyung, Jihoon take care of Chan like Jis-“ Jihoon catches himself before finishing his sentence, swallowing audibly though not stopping stroking Chan’s cheek. 

Jeonghan’s heart clenches at the mention of the name, the feeling of loss still raw in his chest. Seungcheol’s thumb is rubbing over the back of his hand in a soothing motion, the words ringing loudly despite its silence. _I’m here_ , Seungcheol is saying, _we’re together._

He almost feels his heart stop as Chan lets out a soft exhale of breath, worried that the infant might wake up and start crying and ruin whatever progress Jihoon has made with him thus far. Chan remains asleep, though, a blessing even on a regular day. When he dares to peek over at his two children once again, his feels his entire being melt into a puddle of goo as he catches sight of the small, downright _affectionate_ smile on Jihoon’s face as Chan wraps a tiny fist around one of his brother’s fingers and holds on tightly despite the soundness of his sleep. 

It is only after the boy has crept back out of the room that Jeonghan rolls over to face his husband, his eyes feeling a little teary despite hating crying at night because of how puffy it makes his face. 

“I think things are gonna work out just fine,” Seungcheol hums, pulling him into his arms and rubbing at his back. “We’ll be okay.”

And for the first time in a while, Jeonghan thinks so too.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know I'm like super late on this update but I've been so busy with school please forgive me huh T_T I love writing this fic so much but it's been so hard to find the time recently, but I'll keep working on it because everyone has been so kind and giving such good feedback it honestly makes me so happy :) Thanks everyone. I know a lot of people were wondering how the issue with Jihoon was gonna be resolved and I was just giggling to myself while reading the comments because I already had this chap done and written and couldn't wait to post it up XD I hope it's to everyones' satisfaction. 
> 
> We finally get to see big bro Jihoonie in action in this chap and I hope it was sufficiently fluffy for everyone <3 
> 
> Thanks again for all the great feedback and suggestions, you all are the best <3 Hope everyone enjoyed this chap :D


	9. Ice Cream Kisses

**Year 3, June 16th**

**A fire based Other likes ice cream, go figure.**

 

“I’m home!” Seungcheol calls out as he manages to push open their front door with purely the flesh of his ass because his hands were full. He’d nearly dropped his things several times in the trip from his car to the house, though he doubts his kids will mind too terribly if some of their gifts are a little more squished than it had been when he’d bought them. . 

He’d gotten a set of stationary for Jihoon, Soonyoung, and Wonwoo to celebrate them finally starting proper reading and writing lessons, he’s sure they won’t have any use for at least 80% of the stuff but they’ll need it, _eventually_. On his lunch break he’d just happened to spot an adorable wolf themed set that he just knew Jihoon would love, so he’d just gone all out and gotten one each for them all.

Except Chan, the baby can barely hold onto his and Jeonghan’s fingers, let alone a pencil. 

Jeonghan is looking twenty degrees of stressed the moment he fully opens the nursery door, his hair sticking up in odd directions as he glances frantically between Wonwoo and Jihoon who are sitting calmly at the little desks by the window, and Soonyoung who has a blanket cape tied around his neck and is busy running around the nursery making whooshing noises as he goes, wings flapping happily beneath the soft cotton blanket. 

His mate looks up at him with wide eyes. “Baby, you’re back early,” he says, turning away from him to make a grab for Soonyoung before the dragon hybrid ran headfirst into the changing table. “Is everything okay at work?” 

Jihoon abandons his work momentarily to run to him, a large, beaming smile on his slightly rosy cheeks as he hugs Seungcheol’s legs. He can feel his heart flutter behind his ribs at the sight of him, the kitsune’s pure and blatant _love_ never failing to draw a smile to his own face no matter what sort of a mood he’d been in before. Wonwoo also steps away from the desk to come to him, his smile more of a slight lift at the corners of his lips though the excitement in his eyes betrays his otherwise rather calm expression. Soonyoung, as usual, squeals happily with a loud shout of “Appa!”, squirming in Jeonghan’s hold to reach for him. 

His children are so freaking adorable he honestly feels like crying sometimes.

“Everything’s fine, just finished up early because I wanted to see my beautiful family sooner,” Seungcheol smiles as he kneels down to take Soonyoung from his husband, nuzzling his nose into the boy’s messy black hair to scent him. All of the kids have their own unique scents to them, and while they might be a bit more on the pungent side after a long day of playing and running around, Seungcheol still finds that he utterly adores each and every one of them. 

Jihoon smells like the very first day of winter, when there’s still only a breath of cold to tell them of the winter months’ arrival, and the streets and the sky are both the same shades of pale greys and blues and whites; he smells (ironically enough) like warm milk on a cool, sleepy night, rich and creamy and sweet. 

Wonwoo smells like the dry, dusty pages of old books sitting upon equally old shelves, full of words and knowledge not spoken out loud but heard nonetheless; he smells like water trickling slowly over time smoothed rocks in a stream, gentle and flowing yet strong all the same. 

Chan smells like a mixture of spices and sugar, the aromatic punch of spices and herbs at constant war and harmony with the sweetness and soft flavour of sugar; he smells like the first break of light on the horizon after a long night of darkness, when the sun is just starting to brush down softly on the trees and the flowers and slumbering creatures. 

Soonyoung smells like fire, wild and untameable in its nature, roaring and crackling with power even in its smallest of forms and the smoke that swirls endlessly above it in a never-ending dance into the skies above; he smells of a warm hearth on a cold winters day, a quiet glow cast over a home that brings comfort and warmth. 

Today Soonyoung’s scent is leaning more towards that of a sparking flame, alive and restless, his person even more so. Something Seungcheol had always prided himself on despite his husband being the one with actual mood reading abilities would be his own innate skill with watching over his family and being able to recognise even their subtlest of tells. 

Soonyoung’s wings are twitching every so often behind him as Seungcheol continues to seat him on his lap, not flapping in excitement as they usually do when Soonyoung is happy and playing, simply fluttering uneasily as Soonyoung stares up at him. His body is running a little cooler than it normally does, the warmth usually radiating from his skin a lot more subdued. 

Seungcheol could recognise this tell all too easily. 

The dragon hybrid is _bored_. 

“How come Soonie’s not doing his writing practice with his brothers?” he asks Jeonghan, running his fingers playfully along Soonyoung’s ribs just to hear the boy giggling.

Jeonghan shrugs. “He’s finished his assigned work for the day and I promised to let them play after they finished so I can’t give him more, but I hadn’t expected him to finish so quickly so I just wasn’t ready.” 

Seungcheol smiles at this; out of the three older kids Soonyoung is the one the furthest behind in terms of ability, with Wonwoo being leagues ahead of the other two and Jihoon improving steadily, so to hear that Soonyoung has been doing well in his lessons is just such a relief. His mother still thinks he and Jeonghan should just enrol the three in some sort of kindergarten or at the very least an early learning centre to teach them properly since that’s what she had done with Seungcheol himself, and while they have been giving her the excuse that they would rather teach them themselves, the truth is slightly different. 

Really, they just can’t bear to let them go just yet. 

The two of them have been discussing possible proper adoptions outside of their fostering work for as long as Seungcheol could remember, so with Jihoon, Soonyoung, and Wonwoo as their (first) three real, official, legally approved children, Seungcheol has no shame in admitting he’s simply too anxious and nervous to let them out of their sight. 

“Good job Soonie!” he ruffles Soonyoung’s hair and feels the ever familiar warmth fill his chest at the sound of the dragon hybrid’s proud, gap toothed grin. His canines are a little more on the sharp side, but Seungcheol thinks it gives the boy character. 

Jeonghan smiles with that soft look in his eyes that Seungcheol fell in love with, affection bleeding out from every pore on the angel’s body even as he corrects Jihoon on his letters. “Can you play with Soonyoungie for a bit while I finish up with Jihoonie and Wonwoo-yah? Chan’s sleeping right now so I can handle him, but Soonyoungie needs to work off some energy before bedtime and I just don’t have enough hands right now-” 

Seungcheol shuts his blabbering angel up with a kiss, simply a chaste brushing of lips for the sake of the young, innocent eyes in the room, but lingering just long enough to convey the message that they would be carrying on with this later on at night when the kids were all in bed. He feels Jeonghan sigh into the kiss, all the tension leaving his body in that single long exhale. Jeonghan really is such a trooper for being so willing to take on the responsibility of watching all of the kids during the day even though Seungcheol has made very much aware that he’s ready to help any time, the angel has always been a determined one.

After all, that’s how the two of them ended up the way they are today. 

“Of course, baby, I’ll take care of Soonie, don’t worry,” he whispers once they’ve pulled away from each other, faces still close enough for their noses to touch. “Hoonie, Wonnie, you be good boys and listen to Hannie-Appa and finish your work quickly so we can all play together, promise?” 

Over the years the pinky promise has come to be a set family thing, almost to the degree of law in the kids eyes since he and Jeonghan have managed to convince them that breaking a pinky promise was the worst thing you could ever do. Needless to say, Seungcheol holds up both of his pinkies for Jihoon and Wonwoo to take one each, shaking their little hands firmly once their pinkies were linked to seal it. 

Both of the children look very much serious the second he does it, nodding quickly before turning back to their work with much more of fire than he’d seen before. His husband mouths a silent ‘thank you’ to him as he takes a hold of Soonyoung’s hand in his to leave the room, blowing him a kiss right before he swings the door closed behind him. 

Once Jeonghan is far out of sight Seungcheol hoists Soonyoung up into his arms to look him directly in the eye. “So, Soonie, what do you wanna do as a reward for being a clever boy today?” 

Soonyoung takes a moment to think, placing his short little index finger on his lips as he does. “Playground!” he eventually exclaims, clapping his hands together happily. 

Although they try to make it a point to take the kids out on activities as a group so none of them feel too left out, how can Seungcheol really say no to that face when he’s been such a good boy today. 

“To the playground it is!” he answers, just as enthusiastic as Soonyoung had been. He sits the dragon hybrid down on his and Jeonghan’s bed as he quickly strips out of his work clothes and into some comfier (yet presentable for the outside world and judgemental parents who will undoubtedly be loitering at their neighbourhood park) ones, grabbing his sports shoes and getting Soonyoung into his as well. 

Soonyoung is singing some kiddie song that Seungcheol knows much too well as they walk hand in hand to the park, the dragon hybrid already sweating into his t-shirt from the sweltering heat of the summer months. Despite the fact that the boy does run a few extra degrees above normal, he sure sweats like no other kid Seungcheol has _ever_ seen, but he still finds it strangely endearing nonetheless. 

He swings their arms between them and follows along with Soonyoung’s singing, ignoring the pointed looks a few passersby are giving the two of them as they go. He and Jeonghan had looked for a really long time to find a good neighbourhood that was a good mix of both Others and the humans, because they didn’t want to ostracise any of the kids from the other part of society nor did they want to be segregated, so finding this neighbourhood had been somewhat of a blessing to them. 

Jeonghan swears it was heaven’s good graces shining down on him because of how wonderfully angelic and wholesome he is, but Seungcheol can really beg to differ. 

“Don’t run off, Soonie!” he says sternly as Soonyoung attempts to make a run for the playground the second they step foot on the bright green grass of their (admittedly) well kept park. Soonyoung isn’t perturbed by this and instead starts bouncing up and down on the spot, hand still holding on tightly to Seungcheol’s. 

His wings are flapping wildly as he jumps, and he’s pretty sure they’re actually helping the dragon hybrid get at least another foot of height. 

“What do you wanna go on first, Soonie?” 

Soonyoung points frantically at the large jungle gym stationed right in the middle of the playground area where a bunch of other small children are climbing about and shouting, 10:10 eyes gleaming with so much excitement that even Seungcheol’s heart starts picking up a little speed. 

The two of them are getting a few cursory once overs from the surrounding parents because of Soonyoung’s very obvious ‘Other-ness’, his red and gold scales glittering brightly in the late afternoon sun and looking almost like sparkling gems affixed to his skin than anything else. Seungcheol thinks they’re beautiful, but he knows not everyone thinks the same. Thankfully enough most of the parents seem to not deem them as too much of a threat and look away quickly, choosing to focus more on their own children than them. 

Seungcheol gives Soonyoung one last check to make sure his shoes are properly fastened before sending him off, the little boy making a frantic, clumsy dash for the ladders the second Seungcheol’s hands are off him. He and Jeonghan usually take turns going up on the jungle gym with the children on less crowded days, but today Seungcheol doubts any of the other kids will appreciate an overgrown werewolf trying to squeeze himself through the tunnels with them. 

But still he keeps a close watch on Soonyoung; the dragon hybrid is enough of a wild card when he’s indoors and contained, Seungcheol doesn’t want to test what his innocent curiosity would translate to in the large outside world. 

“Appa!” Soonyoung screeches down at him from the top of the jungle gym tower, waving with large arm movements through the safety railings installed there since the boy isn’t quite tall enough to peer over the top of them just yet. 

“Hi Soonie!” he calls back, pulling out his phone to snap a quick picture to send to Jeonghan because he knows his husband loves collecting baby pictures especially since they have such cute children. “Say hi to Hannie-Appa too!” 

“HIIIIIIIII APPPAAAAAA!” Soonyoung shouts in reply, earning himself a few dirty looks but not seeming to notice them in his glee. 

“Be careful Soonie!” he warns as Soonyoung nearly trips over a little bump where the jungle gym pieces are attached together, the boy thankfully managing to catch himself before he falls face first onto the metal. 

Soonyoung doesn’t reply, he probably can’t even hear him through the thick plastic walls of the crawly tunnel. But Seungcheol is watching him, he won’t let anything happen to his little boy. 

 

* * *

 

“Did you have fun, Soonie?” he asks him, the dragon hybrid’s face completely flushed red, sweat making his shirt cling to his back as they begin their trek back home. Nevertheless, the boy still manages a bright smile, nodding happily and squeezing Seungcheol’s hand in reply. 

The dragon hybrid makes a large sweeping motion with his arms. “Lottttttsssss of fun, I made a new friend!” 

Oh? Seungcheol hadn’t seen this. “What’s their name, Soonie?” 

This Soonyoung gets slightly confused at, Seungcheol has to suppress a grin at the confused expression on his round face. “Taetae,” he eventually stated, confident despite his earlier confusion. “Taetae is really nice.” 

He doubts this friend’s name is really Taetae, but it must be a nickname for something. They live in the same neighbourhood, Seungcheol is sure they’ll see this Taetae again someday. 

“That’s great, Soonie, are you tired?” 

“ICE CREAM!” 

He guesses not. 

Soonyoung seems to have drawn on his innate dragon hybrid strength and forcibly drags him across the open field to the ice cream truck parked by the side of the street, the ringing jingle drawing nearly all of the other kids playing in the park in as well. Ah… Seungcheol remembers the days when the ice cream man was basically a blessing from heaven, though this was before his actual angel came into his life and ruined his youth and innocence. 

God he loves Jeonghan so much. 

_Off track, Seungcheol, focus._

“Don’t run off, Soonie,” he says (again) as Soonyoung makes an attempt to release his hand and run for the ice cream truck. Soonyoung shoots him the most pleading look _ever_ and points at the ice cream truck desperately. 

“Please, Appa, pleassseeee…” 

Seungcheol checks his watch; it’s almost dinner time. 

He looks back at Soonyoung’s wide, pleading eyes, the artfully quivering bottom lip. He’s learned the art of begging from only the best, after all. 

Jeonghan will kill him for this. 

“Sure thing, Soonie, just one, okay?” Seungcheol is already bracing himself for a faceful of dragon hybrid the second the words leave his lips, and sure enough Soonyoung absolutely _squeals_ in delight and leaps up to hug him, squeezing with all of the strength his little toddler body can muster. 

“Thank you Appa! Soonie love ice cream!” 

Seungcheol laughs. “Does Soonie love Appa?” 

“SOONIE _LOOVVEEEEEE_ APPA!” 

And although Seungcheol is feeling a little used right now, he does believe him because Soonyoung is just so pure he can’t imagine him ever misusing those words no matter how much of a rebellious phase the boy will enter. 

God he hopes Soonyoung doesn’t have a rebellious phase, not his precious little dragon baby.

Wonwoo he’s already preparing for years in advance, but for the love of Jeonghan not _Soonyoung_. 

There’s a small crowd of people around the opening of the ice cream truck by the time they get close, and Seungcheol can tell by the way Soonyoung is tiptoeing and straining that he can’t see the little display pictures on the pastel board above it. “Up we come!” he huffs as he hoists Soonyoung up onto his shoulders, holding tightly onto the boy’s ankles to keep him from possibly toppling backwards. “Can you see, Soonie? Which ice cream do you want?” 

“Milk!” Soonyoung points at a white swirly ice cream on a cone and tugs at Seungcheol’s hair in his hurry, legs jiggling in his hold. “Can Soonie have milk?” 

Seungcheol smiles, heart warm as always. “Of course you can, Soonie,” he keeps Soonyoung on his shoulders all up until they get to the front of the swarm; it’s the easiest way to make sure the boy doesn’t wander off while he’s distracted. “Hi, can we have two milk cones, please?” he hands over the number of bills the ice cream man tells him, sighing in relief that he actually remembered to bring his wallet for once. 

He grabs the two cones from the man and hands one of them up to Soonyoung, praying silently that he won’t have to wash out the sticky ice cream from his hair later tonight. “Here you go, Soonie, don’t let it drip okay?” 

“Okay, thank you Appa!” 

Though he can’t exactly see Soonyoung right now, the loud sounds of his slurping and giggling are enough to let him know the boy is definitely enjoying his ice cream. He snorts softly to himself and takes a lick at his own cone; Jeonghan really is going to kill him, the purpose of this outing had been to tire Soonyoung out, not pump enough sugar into him to keep him up all night. 

At least Soonyoung is happy, that’s enough for him. 

He feels something cold fall onto the top of his head and he sighs; guess that really had been unavoidable after all. 

Soonyoung’s mouth and cheeks are completely _coated_ with the bright white ice cream by the time they get home and Seungcheol puts the dragon hybrid down, there’s even a blob of it on his forehead that he has no idea how it got there but one should never be surprised when it comes to Soonyoung. As he’d expected, Jeonghan does give the both of them a lecture before dragging Soonyoung (and Wonwoo) for a bath before dinner. 

Jihoon does look a little pouty when he comes to sit beside him in front of the TV, sniffing suspiciously at his face and hands (probably because of the ice cream) before shooting him the most _betrayed_ expression he’s ever seen on a four year old that it nearly has him bursting out into laughter. “Appa had ice cream with Soonyoung,” he murmurs, bottom lip full extended. “Appa made me _read,_ that’s not _fair_.”

He presses the tip of his nose to Jihoon’s in an eskimo kiss. “Appa will bring back a big tub of ice cream on the way back from work tomorrow, okay? We’ll all have ice cream together while we watch some Disney after dinner.” 

Jeonghan’s wrath is well worth the sparkling in Jihoon’s eyes at his words. 

And if Soonyoung can’t fall asleep that night when Jeonghan tucks him in, well, that just gives Seungcheol an excuse to watch him slowly drift off as he sings him all the lullabies he knows. 

And that makes it well worth it too.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so so so sorry for such a late update, but school has honestly just been so hectic and I'm like getting 4 hours of sleep a night so I just haven't been able to find quite enough time to properly sit down and write to churn out chapters :( I hope this one will be up to par and I hope I'll have a bit more time in the next few weeks to continue writing because this fic is honestly just so fun to write for and I just love contributing to the kid!svt fics because there are honestly not enough out there!!! We focused a little more on Soonyoungie for this chapter and he's probably one of my fav babbies to write because our dragon baby is honestly just so freaking adorable it melts me. 
> 
> Hope you enjoyed the chapter! Do leave some kudos and a comment, it really gives me the strength to carry on through my long school days T_T 
> 
> <3


	10. Mingyu

** Year 3, August 26th **

**Little kids always want to grow up faster, but they have no idea how to raise a kid that's already more grown up than he should be (and not to mention how difficult it is to find him).**

 

“Hannie, do you hear something?” Seungcheol asks him, metaphorical puppy ears perking up as he turns to look in the direction of the street. Jeonghan tries to hear whatever it was that Seungcheol was on about, squinting in concentration but ultimately coming up blank. “I swear I hear something, it’s not just me is it?” 

His husband is only 26 but Jeonghan supposes there’s no fixed age for ones hearing to start going. 

“Well, Cheol-“

His head snaps towards the door, words getting cut off midway as he too starts to hear a faint, mysterious noise coming from somewhere off in the distance. It doesn’t sound like any of the neighbourhood kids playing around on the pavement, nor does it sound like the gossipy group of ahjummas from a houses down. In fact, it sounds like…

 _Screaming_?

And whatever it is, it’s definitely getting closer as the sound gets louder and louder. 

It’s about a few moments later that the source of the noise gets close enough for the sound to be distinguishable: a long, drawn out pterodactyl like screech that sends a downright shudder down Jeonghan’s spine. 

“That sounds like Hoseok, doesn’t it?” Seungcheol points out, lifting Jihoon up from where he’d been bouncing on Seungcheol’s knee and sitting him on the couch. Jihoon makes a soft sound of complaint but otherwise makes himself busy pretty quickly, picking up his well loved (and chewed on) wolf plush toy and playing with it as Seungcheol heads to the window to check out the commotion. 

Jeonghan delays in his reply to stare sternly at Wonwoo as the nereid attempts to drop an ice cube from his drink down the back of Soonyoung’s shirt, the latter looking blissfully oblivious as he dances along with a cartoon on the TV. He shifts Chan around in the little sling carrier he has on, making sure the infant isn’t pinching anywhere or in an awkward position. “You haven’t received any calls about getting new kids, right?” 

Seungcheol shakes his head firmly, brows furrowing in confusion as the screech grows even louder in volume. “Nope, and before you say anything, my phone has been right there,” he points towards where his phone is, indeed, sitting right on the coffee table, “the whole morning and it’s been silent so it can’t really be Hoseo-“

“SEUNNNNGGGGCHEEOOOOOLLLLL-SSSSSIIIIIIII!” 

That is definitely, without a hint of a doubt, Jung Hoseok. 

The chaos Seungcheol’s hurry to the door throws the house into is enough to give Jeonghan a headache; with Jihoon becoming increasingly upset at his (begrudgingly admitted) favourite parent leaving him so suddenly, Soonyoung whining in complaint as Seungcheol kicks over the TV remote and changes the channel, and Wonwoo finding the fact that Soonyoung is upset completely unacceptable and scrambling for the remote. Chan, however, remains quiet and blissfully unaware that his other father has just completely ruined whatever semblance of tranquility they had. In fact, Jeonghan is pretty sure the boy hasn’t even stirred from his sleep in the slightest. He is his baby after all, huh. 

The two of them had actually gone for classes on parenting before opening their house for foster children, and one of the first things they had learnt was to instil a firm ’no running’ rule inside the house and Jeonghan is only now fully understanding why. Though he hadn’t expected that the rule would apply more to the adult with actual fully functioning limbs and motor controls than the children. 

And while his husband _has_ been described as an overgrown puppy many a time, this is just downright embarrassing. 

The moment Seungcheol pulls open the front door, a flying mass of limbs attaches itself to his torso in a way that would have made Jeonghan jealous if not _slightly_ taken aback, were it not for the fact that said flying limbs were attached to a crying, snot-face Jung Hoseok. “SEUNGCHEOL-SSSSSSIIIIII!” the (note) fully grown man wails, cheeks wet with tears. “HELP ME PLEASE! YOONGI-HYUNG IS GOING TO KILL MEEEEE!” 

By the time Jeonghan has managed to calm the toddlers and have them all safely contained within the playpen so they don’t go running off into the street while their backs are turned and Chan clutched tightly in his arms, Seungcheol has managed to pry Hoseok off of him and is staring him down sternly. “What are you on about, Hoseok-ssi? Why are you hear? We haven’t heard anything about a new kid being brought here?” 

“I LOST HIM!” 

Jeonghan can literally feel time freeze around them as the steady beat of his heart comes to a screeching halt. Had he really just said that he _lost_ a kid? 

“Excuse me, _what_?” Seungcheol bites out, shoulders squaring instinctively and eyes flaring dangerously. His husband isn’t completely pissed off yet, but it’ll definitely be happening soon at the rate this fiasco is going, and Jeonghan can only hope that Hoseok manages to explain himself sufficiently to calm the werewolf down before then. 

Seungcheol has only really been truly angry a few times since Jeonghan had met him in Junior High School, one of which had been to defend him from some other werewolf assholes in his Psych class in University that were making fun of his (then) long hair and _inappropriately_ _propositioning_ him. 

It had been super hot, don’t get him wrong, but not in front of the kids. 

Hoseok gulps, intimidated by the werewolf’s threatening and aggravated pheromones despite his own human inability to really detect them. “I-I-I was just supposed to pick M-Mingyu up from the doctor’s and the report back to Yoongi-hyung s-so he could call y-you but h-he jumped out of the c-car when we were d-driving back and ran and I chased him to this neighbourhood but I l-lost sight of him and I can’t f-f-find him anywhere!” 

“You’re telling me a little boy jumped out of a moving car?” Jeonghan pipes up, moving to stand beside his husband and joining in on the disapproving glaring. “What’s his species?” 

“He’s a sh-shapeshifter, he shifted into a cat midway through the drive and jumped out of the window, I couldn’t stop him in time and-“ Hoseok looks like he’s about to have an aneurysm so Jeonghan stops him, placing a hand on his shoulder and encouraging deep breaths until his face no longer looks that unnatural shade of purple. 

His husband takes a long, painful sigh, calming his vexation in favour of finding the missing boy instead. “Okay, you and I will split up and look around the street. Hannie, you stay here and watch the kids and at the same time look outside to check if you see any strange animals running around, he may have shifted into some other animal by now so don’t just look out for cats,” Seungcheol organises, any sort of puppy-like resemblance completely gone, leaving only the alpha wolf behind. 

“Animals!” Soonyoung echoes, clapping his hands together loudly, utterly unaware of the severity of the situation but providing moral support nonetheless. His rapidly flapping wings slap Jihoon right across the face and the dark look on the kitsune’s face promises a slow death, Wonwoo already subtly shifting his own body in between the two before Jeonghan can rush into action to prevent early aged homicide. 

Seungcheol allows himself a moment to smile softly at his three (now official) children as he ties the laces on his shoes, pulling on his coat for protection against the gradually warming spring weather. The light layer of wetness that sits outside on the streets as a last remaining gift from the winter months makes Jeonghan purse his lips in worry, wondering how a young boy would last out there in such cold, animal form or not. 

The two adults hurry off in search of the boy while Jeonghan stays behind to ensure none of the children kill themselves (or each other, in Jihoon’s case), debating calling up Seokjin to report his underling’s obvious act of negligence and the possible missing person’s case on their hands. His inner demon (sorry, mother) wins out in the end and he finds himself humming along to Seokjin’s dial tone as he wipes traces of maple syrup from their pancakes this morning from (somehow) behind Soonyoung’s ear and the back of Jihoon’s neck. 

Wonwoo, on the other hand, is perfectly spotless. And also moving rapidly up Jeonghan’s list of favourites, but that’s another story altogether. 

“Jeonghan-ssi? What’s the matter, you don’t usually call me just to chat,” Seokjin jokes once he picks up the phone, no longer nervous in their presence since the veela had been the one to help sort out the adoption so quickly. “Is anything the matter with the boys?” 

“No, but I would like to know why we weren’t informed of a new boy coming to stay with us, especially so soon after Channie.”

“New boy- Oh lord what did Hoseok do?” the panic slipping into the older man’s voice would have made Jeonghan laugh in a less serious situation. 

Jeonghan has to shift the phone to his other year as Jihoon starts fighting for his attention, tugging at his sleeve and giving him that _pout_ that makes him so so weak. “He lost him. I think his name was Mingyu?” 

“He was just supposed to bring him back from the clinic! It was a goddamn fifteen minute drive! How did this happen!? How did you find out?” Seokjin is just about yelling now, and Jeonghan suspects that most of the others in the office would be in similar states of panic at this point. “Where is Hoseok now? I am calling this irresponsible piece of- ARGH! What are we going to do! We can’t lose a kid I’ll lose my _job_!”

He lets the veela stew in his own anxiety for a moment longer before speaking. “Cheol and Hoseok-ssi are out looking for him now. He jumped out of the car while driving past the neighbourhood so he shouldn’t have gotten far, I’ll call again if there’s any news. 

“Thanks so much Jeonghan-ssi, I’ll send Yoongi out, he’ll probably be able to sniff Mingyu out.” 

“Oh! Before you go, give me some of Mingyu’s background and such so I know what to expect when they bring him back.” 

There’s the sound of rapid clicking and typing. “Kim Mingyu, he’s three this year, the shapeshifter gene was highly recessive in his family so they gave him up to the system when they found out, didn’t want him around his siblings apparently,” Jeonghan sees red at that; how could parents just give up their children for such a shallow and frivolous reason? After he and Seungcheol had struggled for so long trying to get children of their own, how could they just decide they _didn’t want him?_

Chan squirms in his hold and Jeonghan finally relents, setting the boy down on the little foam mattress they have set up and shooting his elder boys a warning look to not play too rough with their little brother. 

“The first foster family he was put with were just regular humans, not Others. They had said they didn’t mind an Other child so we had all hoped it would be just fine and dandy, but Mingyu’s got a bit of distant brownie relation somewhere in the mix so he’s very fond of housework and the family misused that nature to make him clean up the house and basically used him like a servant before we checked in and found out. Grabbed him right out and, well, here we are.” 

Jeonghan didn’t realise how tightly he was gripping onto his phone until Wonwoo comes up to touch his hand softly, eyes soft and concerned. He reassures the boy with a smile, stroking his cheek affectionately. “That’s bull,” he bites out to Seokjin, wary of anything near cursing around the boys in case they accidentally pick it up. Especially Soonyoung, who has the unfortunate habit of shouting new words he’s learnt at strangers at stores and such when they’re out. 

The family gets enough strange looks from Jihoon’s tail and Soonyoung’s scales and wings as it is, the two children yet to young to learn how to hide their Other features away. Jeonghan doesn’t feel embarrassed or ashamed, not in the slightest, but he simply can’t stand the dirty looks some of the older, more conservative adults look at his children, and it’s highly frowned upon for angels to commit cold blooded murder in the cereal aisle of the supermarket. 

“I know, Jeonghan-ssi, I was hoping you and Seungcheol-ssi would be a good guiding hand for him, he’s really such a sweet boy, the people at the office just adore him.”

Jeonghan gives his three children a brief, sweeping glance. “I’m sure we’ll love him.”

 

* * *

 

“Any luck?” he whispers into the receiver, softly edging his way out of the nursery after putting the kids to bed for nap time. Seungcheol and Hoseok still weren’t back even after the kids had had their lunch so Jeonghan had started to worry. 

 _“Nope, I tried sniffing some of the stuff in Hoseok’s car for his scent but the trail goes cold not far from our house so I can’t track him any further,”_ Jeonghan can hear the frustration in his husband’s voice, in the rough exhales punctuating his words. _“Hannie, what do I do?”_

The soft words punch straight into his heart and he leans against the kitchen island to think, pushing a cup further away from the edge in case one of the kids knocks it over later. “Just… Just come home first, we’ll call Seokjin and figure something out from there. I don’t like you being out in the cold for so long.”

_“Mingyu’s been out for even longer…”_

“I know, Cheol, I know. We’ll find him eventually, don’t worry. I’ve got some leftover pasta from lunch sitting on the stove for you too.” 

Seungcheol groans at the mention of food. “Is it the one with bacon that I like?” 

He shrugs even though the other man can’t see him, a smile on his lips. “Jihoon insisted.”

“God I love that boy, I’ll be back soon.”

Jeonghan set the phone down on the countertop, sweeping some hair out of his eyes and looking out in the direction of the street. He felt a strange sort of tingling in the back of his mind, like the nagging feeling he gets when he’s forgotten something or when one of the kids needed him. His ‘mum’ sense, Seungcheol called it; kind of like spidey sense but without the superpowers. 

Then again, watching three or more kids under the age of 5 at a time should definitely be considered a superpower.  

Deciding to trust his mum sense, he walks slowly out to the window by the door and pulls back the sheer white curtains, crushing disappointment filling him as the street still appears quiet and empty. Guess his mum sense was wrong, then. Out the corner of his eye, however, he spots what looks like a baby gecko sticking to his polished, _clean_ glass. 

Oh this thing better not even _think_ about shitting on his windows, he just cleaned them yesterday. 

He taps on the inside of the glass to the gecko in the hopes of shocking it enough that it moves far, _far_ away from his windows. “Come on, move, move, move- AHHHHH!” 

On his third tap of the glass the gecko suddenly starts to grow increasingly large in size, sticky little limbs lengthening and thickening into a vaguely more human shape. Within seconds he’s no longer faced with the threat of gecko poop dirtying his windows but instead a smiling, heavily breathing, _human_ face, hot breath fogging up the glass as the rest of the boy’s (very naked) body remains pressed up against the glass somehow. 

His brief moment of surprise (he will never admit to the high pitched screeching that somehow came out of his mouth) seems to have awoken the boys, the sound of Wonwoo and Jihoon’s mumbles of “Appa, Appa” wafting out of the baby monitor. Relief washes over him as the Chan’s monitor remains blissfully silent, thankful for his youngest’s ability to sleep through an earthquake. Once he’s taken a second to calm his rapidly beating heart, he hurries out of the front door without even bothering to put on his shoes, plucking the boy off of his glass before he freezes his little naked butt off. 

The little white blanket thrown over the arm of the couch is Jihoon’s and also a little dirty but it’s better than nothing, and Jeonghan uses it to wrap the shivering boy in his arms up. Was this Mingyu? 

“Mingyu? Is that your name?” he asks softly, rubbing the boy’s arms and back to try and get him warm. The boy grins at him and nods, still shaking from the cold but seeming rather unfazed. “Okay Mingyu, you’re going to sit here and not move at all while I go and get you some clothes. _Do not move_.”

The speed at which he rushes to the hallway closet and pulls out a new box of clothing is possibly the fastest he’s moved since he was playing hard to get with Seungcheol back in high school, hoping desperately that Mingyu hasn’t shifted into some other small animal and disappeared once again. 

Thankfully the boy is still there by the time he returns. “Here you go, let Hannie dress you, okay Mingyu-yah?” 

The shapeshifter shakes his head, taking the set of clothes from Jeonghan’s hands and wiggling into them all by himself. Jihoon and Wonwoo both had no problem with dressing themselves now, though Soonyoung still needed help with his shirts because of his wings. A three year old shouldn’t be so good at putting on his own clothes, though, or at least definitely not as fluidly as Mingyu can.

He hides his confusion with a smile, patting Mingyu on the head to praise him. “Good boy, Mingyu-yah, you’re so clever!” 

Mingyu laughs and swells under the praise, pressing his head further into Jeonghan’s hand to get him to continue petting him. Jeonghan picks the boy up (more out of preventing him from escaping again than actual necessity) and quickly dials up Seungcheol on his phone, holding the phone to his ear with his shoulder as his hands are busy keeping Mingyu secure within his arms. 

 _“Have you seen him?”_ Seungcheol asks the moment he picks up the phone, sounding a little winded. Just how far out had his husband gone? 

As if on cue, Mingyu lets out a loud laugh as Jeonghan’s fingers ghost over his tummy, probably feeling rather ticklish. Jeonghan frowns at the feeling of the ridges of the shapeshifter’s ribs under his hands. Much too thin for a three year old, Jeonghan thinks, noting just how light the boy feels as well. “Yeah, found him stuck to the window, he’s inside with me now.” 

“Oh thank god, I’ll hurry up, make sure all the windows and doors are shut.”

“Really? I wouldn’t have guessed.,” he sasses, though his effort is wasted as all he gets in reply is the sound of dull beeping as Seungcheol hangs up on him. He keeps Mingyu in his arms as he moves over to the nursery, nudging the door open with his hip to reveal Wonwoo and Jihoon sitting up wide-awake in their cribs, and Soonyoung still sound asleep in his. Chan is sleeping in his and Seungcheol’s bedroom, the pair of them not wanting to disrupt their other children’s sleep with Chan’s nightly cries. 

Jihoon eyes the newcomer in Jeonghan’s arms darkly, expression suspicious and stormy (he’s never been fond of any new children that come to the house, but Jeonghan figures he gave up on open hostility once Chan came along). Wonwoo doesn’t look completely pleased either, but at least he isn’t glaring Mingyu down like the kitsune. Really the boys are old enough to be sleeping in their own kiddie beds by now, but Jihoon is still a little too small and weak bodied and they don’t want him to feel left out if Wonwoo and Soonyoung moved to beds first. 

The two of them have been thinking about starting the transition from the crib to the kiddie beds already set up in the next room within the next two weeks or so, but with Mingyu’s arrival perhaps it’d be okay to move Soonyoung and Wonwoo first. 

“Did Appa wake you two up? Sorry babies,” he leans down to kiss the kitsune and nereid on the foreheads, smoothing their sleep mussed hair back. “This is your new little brother, say hi to Jihoonie and Wonwoo-yah, Mingyu-yah.”

Mingyu squirms around in Jeonghan’s hold to look away from the two of them, shaking his head shyly. “Come on, Mingyu-yah, just wave for Hannie, can you do that?” 

The boy stiffens in his arms at his words, obediently turning back around to face Jihoon and Wonwoo, waving slightly but still avoiding looking into their eyes. Jeonghan’s a little thrown off by the drastic shift in behaviour, but doesn’t question it too much just yet; he’ll wait on the full report from Seokjin first. 

 

* * *

 

“Gyu?” Seungcheol groans, rubbing his eyes tiredly as he stumbles out into the living room. Chan had had another of his sessions the night before, so he was feeling a little worse for wear than he should be considering he had work in about an hour. It was a bit earlier than he usually woke up but he could have sworn he’d heard the sound of pots banging around in the kitchen so he’d gotten up to investigate. He knew it wasn’t Jeonghan, goodness knows the angel would sleep the day away if it weren’t for the kids, not to mention he was still fast asleep when Seungcheol got up. 

What he hadn’t been expecting, however, was to walk in on the newest member of their slowly growing family standing on a dining chair in front of the stove, a whisk clutched tightly in one little fist and an egg in the other. How the boy had managed to drag over one of their heavy wooden dining chairs all the way to the kitchen he didn’t know, but even more baffling to him was the large frying pan set on one of the burners with what looked to be a good dollop of butter melting gently in the centre of it. 

Was Mingyu _cooking_? a small part of his barely conscious brain pipes up. 

He’s _three_ , a more reasonable and logical part throws out. 

“Gyu? What are you doing? How did you get out of your crib?” he asks, picking up his pace a little to come to a stop beside the boy. Mingyu gives him a wide, toothy grin, his prominent little canines on show. He cracks two eggs with practiced movements into a small metal bowl, mixing the yolks with the whites with the whisk. 

“Mingu make breakfast, ready when everybody get up. Cheollie-Appa go sleep, Mingu can do it,” he swirls a dash of soy sauce into the eggs and incorporates it into the mixture as he speaks, looking very much accustomed to being awake at—Seungcheol checks the clock—7 o'clock in the morning to cook breakfa-

Oh _hell no_. 

Seungcheol had read over Mingyu’s file with Jeonghan, including the parts that mentioned how Mingyu’s previous foster family had basically used him as a live-in maid/pet, but that little fact hadn’t really sunk in before this moment. Had he really been made to wake up and make breakfast for them? At three, no, at _younger_ than three?

He turns off the burner despite Mingyu’s soft whine of complaint, scooping the little boy up off of the chair and into his arms, carrying him over to the sofa. Mingyu is looking uneasy and restless by the time Seungcheol has him seated down beside him on the couch, glancing desperately over at the stove, hands twitching in his lap. 

Mingyu peers up at him with watery eyes. “Did Mingu do wrong, Cheollie-Appa? Mingu fix it, Mingu can clean it up, no scold Mingu please.” 

Seungcheol can feel his heart actually shattering. “No, no, baby, Cheollie isn’t going to scold you, don’t be sad, please Mingyu? Cheollie doesn’t like it when Mingyu cries.” 

The shapeshifter wipes at his eyes with the sleeve of his shirt, and Seungcheol notes how the boy has managed to change himself out of his pyjamas too. “Okay, Cheollie-Appa, Mingu no cry.”

He takes the boy into his arms and strokes a warm hand up and down the boy’s back, kissing the top of his head. “You don’t have to cook breakfast for us anymore, or lunch or dinner, Hannie and Cheollie will take care of that, Mingyu doesn’t have to.” 

Mingyu tilts his head, confused. Seungcheol can almost see the puppy in him, all he’s missing are the ears. “But then why Cheollie-Appa and Hannie-Appa want Mingu? Will Cheollie-Appa throw Mingu away?” 

The alpha wolf Seungcheol keeps inside him is whining sadly, distressed at the sight of this poor, poor little boy. _Protect_ , the wolf says, _our pup._  

“Cheollie and Hannie will never, ever, _ever_ throw Mingyu away, we promise. You don’t need to clean or cook for us to love you, you just need to grow up big and healthy and strong, okay Gyu?” he stares Mingyu seriously in the eye, trying to convey his sincerity as strongly as possible. Mingyu still looks a little confused, distress still prominent in the nervous quivering of his hands, the darting of his gaze back and forth between Seungcheol’s face and the eggs abandoned on the stove. The boy is hyperventilating slightly, his breaths quick and shallow as tremors wrack through his little body, still wanting to return to the stove. 

Seungcheol lies back onto the couch, pulling the young shapeshifter along with him so the boy is lying flat on his chest. little ear pressed against the steady thumping beat of his heart. “You must be tired from waking up so early, Gyu. Do you want to have a little nap with Cheollie before Hannie and your hyungs wake up?” 

For a moment the boy doesn’t move, then there’s the tiniest of nods against Seungcheol’s chest and he takes that as confirmation, hugging the boy securely to him to make sure he doesn’t roll off later on. It’s only about 7:15 now, so they have at least another half an hour or so before Seungcheol needs to make a start on breakfast for the family. 

With Jeonghan in charge of looking after the kids for most of the day while Seungcheol is off at work, cooking breakfast is really the least he can do. Because that’s just how their little family worked: helping each other and looking after each other, sharing responsibilities and troubles and joys.

Mingyu lets out a soft snore, the sound muffled ever so slightly by the cotton of Seungcheol’s ratty sleeping shirt. Seungcheol smooths a thumb gently over the dark circles beneath the three year old’s eyes, rubbing at the hardened patches of skin on the boy’s hands. His hands look like they should belong to someone much, much older, not someone so young and fragile and small and-

He hugs Mingyu tighter to him. running his hand over his back in time with his slow, tired breaths.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am SO SORRY this took so long T_T It's been actually a month and I've been so deprived of writing it's actually pretty depressing :( I've missed all of you so so much and I just wanna take a sec to thank everyone who's stuck with this fic since the start and to thank you all for being so patient even with my patchy updates. I have a big exam coming up in a few weeks so I don't know when I'll have the chance to update again but I PROMISE that after my exams are over I'll be firing out new chapters like no one's business!!! This chapter is a pretty long one so I hope everyone enjoyed reading it as much as I did writing it, Mingyu is an absolute dream <3 
> 
> Has everyone listened to BSS?? The song gives me so much life it's crazy <3 So proud of our boys :') 
> 
> Leave a comment and some kudos! It really makes my day :))))


	11. Germgyu

**Year 3, October 2nd**

**We are convinced that Mingyu must be the next secret government weapon because how else did he manage to infect an entire household so _quickly_. **

 

“AAAHH _CHOOOOO_!” Jeonghan hears a very loud sneeze rumble through the house, soon followed by what appears to be the sound of a small explosion. He jumps slightly as the walls tremor a little as a result, rushing out to investigate the cause of it. Getting the house blown up is certainly not the best way to keep the social service officers from coming down on their asses. 

“Soonyoung?” he calls out nervously as he walks through the hallway, wondering where exactly the little boy was. Unlike Jihoon and Wonwoo, Soonyoung and Mingyu were more prone to creeping off to hidden places when Jeonghan’s back was turned, leaving him to scour the entire house for any sign of them more often than his policy of ‘minimal movement’ would like. Add in Mingyu’s habit of shifting into very small animals at random moments and you have a house lock down in case he shifted into a cockroach like that one time (which was, Jeonghan might add, a very traumatising experience for both him and Mingyu) and crept out the window or something. 

There’s another sneeze—a softer one this time—and Jeonghan hears a nasally: “Appa…” coming from the newly refurnished kids bedroom. Not long after they’d moved Soonyoung and Wonwoo to their own beds did Jihoon start wanting to move as well, so on a free Saturday they’d all gotten together as a family to paint and install a few new beds in the room for future moves. Jihoon still looks much too tiny and fragile all swaddled up in the blankets in his bed but Jeonghan will just have to learn to accept that his fox baby is growing up. 

Eventually. 

“Soonyoungie! Are you okay? Did you hurt yourself? Burn anything?” he kneels down in front of Soonyoung’s bed so that he’s eye level with the dragon hybrid sitting cross legged on it, the poor boy’s eyes watering slightly as he rubs at his runny nose. 

The dragon hybrid shakes his head. “Don’t feel good, Appa… Soonie’s head hurts and throat hurts and-” 

As if on cue, Soonyoung lets out a series of deep and chesty coughs that has Jeonghan wincing at its ferocity. “Oh my poor baby, how did you get sick?” Jeonghan holds a hand to Soonyoung’s forehead, hissing and quickly drawing his hand away from the scorching patch of skin. “You’re burning up!” 

That triggered the breakdown. A wave of uncontrollable panic washes over him as fat, wet tears begin welling up in Soonyoung’s eyes, his bottom lip trembling as his entire body begins to shake with suppressed sobs. “Appa it _hurts_ , Soonie hurts _everywhere_!” 

Not caring about the risk of possibly getting himself infected with Soonyoung’s bug as well, Jeonghan sits up on the bed beside his son and pulls the little boy onto his lap. He cradles Soonyoung’s head to the crook on his neck, stroking slow, comforting strokes over his hair and whispering comfort to the still crying boy. Soonyoung has always been a very strong, healthy child, so he’s never gotten properly properly sick before today. 

“This must be so hard for you, Soonyoungie…” Jeonghan murmurs, feeling his son’s pain almost as sharply as if it were his own. Eventually he grabs Soonyoung’s pyjamas from the cabinet and strips the boy of his day clothes to change him, his limbs limp and weak as he pulls his shirt and trousers off. “You just lie down and rest, okay? Appa will take care of you.” 

Soonyoung’s nod is barely even a slight twitch of his head, his nose a bright red as he sniffles. Jeonghan allows himself a brief moment of worry as to whether or not the dragon hybrid will set the bedsheets on fire if he sneezes, but figures he’ll solve that problem when it comes and instead focuses on what he’ll need to prepare for lunch for the sick boy to eat. 

God, he hopes none of the other boys have caught the bug. 

Wonwoo thankfully looks completely well as he walks back to the living room, his sea-green eyes bright and curious as he watches him walk out from the bedroom. “Where’s Soonyoung?” he asks, hands pausing in their flipping through of his latest picture book. They’d discovered Wonwoo’s love for reading pretty soon into the kid’s lessons, the nereid picking up on the skill faster than his two brothers and asking him and Seungcheol for books even outside of the ones Jeonghan gave for practice. 

This was very much unlike Jihoon, who only read the books Jeonghan assigned under extreme coercion from Seungcheol. Jeonghan holds the back of his hand to the nereid’s forehead, just to be sure he didn’t have a fever brewing somewhere in there that wasn’t quite making itself known yet. He did feel a _little_ warmer than usual, but Jeonghan could easily credit that to the extra layers of clothes he’d stuffed the boys into in preparation for the cooling weather. 

“Soonyoungie’s feeling a little sick so he’s sleeping, you shouldn’t go and see him, okay? Appa doesn’t want you catching anything too,” he can tell by the spark of indignation in Wonwoo’s usually calm eyes that this instruction is going to be duly ignored. 

He shouldn’t have told him, bad choice, Jeonghan. 

Wonwoo grabs onto the edge of his sleeve with a serious expression. “Soonyoung’s sick? Like Mingyu?” 

This is news. “Mingyu? What’s wrong with Mingyu?” 

The shapeshifter had last been seen in the living room earlier that afternoon but Jeonghan saw not a single trace of him now, which honestly worried him quite substantially because he’s not sure if he closed the hall bathroom’s window properly. “Mingyu was sneezing _everywhere_ last night, and he didn’t use a tissue like Appa told us to, it was so gross…” the last part was mumbled out rather grumpily by the nereid, and Jeonghan would find it a lot cuter if he wasn’t worried out of his mind for the state of his household. 

Sicknesses got passed around like nobodies’ business when so many young children were involved, and Jeonghan is dread to think of what he would even do if Chan got caught on as well. The halfer is still so _small_ and _weak_ , he won’t be able to handle a fever like his older kids can. 

“Where’s Mingyu now?” he asks Wonwoo, catching the boy’s attention as he glances in the direction of their bedroom every so often, obviously wanting to go to Soonyoung. He’ll need to quarantine all the sick kids in the bedroom for a few days; he and Seungcheol will just have to set up the spare guest bedroom for the healthy ones to stay in until everyone’s recovered. 

Wonwoo stands up and heads to the couch, which Jeonghan finds completely befuddling for about half a second until the nereid lifts up one of Jeonghan’s favourite fluffy throw pillows and reveals a tiny beagle puppy quivering beneath it. As his hiding spot is revealed, Mingyu lets out a soft whine and tries to burrow himself back into the crack between the cushions, still trembling like a leaf on shaky legs. His heart is _breaking_. 

“Oh baby, don’t be scared, Appa’s got you,” he soothes, scooping the puppy up into his arms and internally squealing at how he’s able to fit basically all of him onto his palm but remaining cool and collected and _responsible_ _dad_ on the outside. He strokes a finger over the top of Mingyu’s little puppy head, chest squeezing at the way Mingyu whimpers and cuddles up closer to his chest, licking pitifully at his fingers. 

Somewhere in the middle of this, Jihoon has made his appearance and he scrambles up onto the sofa to be able to see. Despite how much milk and cheese they’ve been trying to pump into the kitsune over these few years, the boy has still remained stubbornly small and Jeonghan’s last hope is for a humongous and frankly rather miraculous growth spurt when he hits puberty. Jihoon’s hands are still a little wet so Jeonghan assumes he’d been using the bathroom, having already taught the eldest three boys to use the special seat Seungcheol installed on the toilet. 

“Mingyu was sneezing yesterday night, he’s so noisy,” Jihoon complains to him, arms crossed petulantly. 

“Last night…” Wonwoo corrects quietly, quickly moving to stand behind Jeonghan as Jihoon turns on him with a threatening look. Jeonghan sighs; Jihoon looks like such a white ball of fluff and happiness and innocence but he’s so scary sometimes he’s not sure whether to feel proud or terrified. 

(he’s lying he’s super proud but he has to make Seungcheol feel better somehow)

Mingyu chooses that moment to cough and whine softly against Jeonghan’s hand, drawing both Jihoon and Wonwoo back over in concern. No matter how much the kids bicker and argue and fight, they all do care very greatly about each other and the number of times he’s walked in on them all cuddling together on the sofa is honestly enough to give years to his life and-

But he’s getting carried away.

Jihoon comes to stand in front of them, looking at the younger boy with a hint of worry prevalent in his expression. “Will Mingyu be okay-“

“ _Choo_!” Mingyu lets out a small sneeze right into Jihoon’s face, the older boy jerking back in shock and falling onto his butt on the couch with an ‘ _oof_ ’. The kitsune looks completely stunned into silence for a few counts before Wonwoo is ducking out of the way of his line of attack, but somehow it doesn’t come. Instead Jihoon crosses his arms over his chest and scrunches up his face, staring up at Jeonghan expectantly. 

“ _APPA_! MINGYU _SNEEZED_ ON ME!” he shouts, wiping at his face with the neck of his sweater and stretching it out. 

So much for his hope that he could keep Jihoon and Wonwoo out of the sick bay. 

“Okay, Wonwoo-yah, you stay here and don’t even think of coming to the room; Jihoonie, you follow Appa and Mingyu to go lie down with Soonyoungie,” he holds Jihoon’s hand with the one that’s not carrying puppy Mingyu and walks with him to the kids room, wondering just where he’d left his phone so he can call his husband to pick up some medicine on his way home from work. 

The medicine cabinet they have is stocked with all sorts of first-aid equipment they could possibly need to manage a houseful of young Others, including dried kelp that he would rather not get into the purpose of. But for perishables such as cough syrup and cold medicine, they prefer to get those fresh off the shelf rather than risk feeding their kids expired stuff. 

Soonyoung is still looking pale and utterly miserable by the time Jeonghan manages to wrestle Jihoon into the room, the kitsune protesting that he isn’t sick and that he doesn’t want to get stuck with ‘noisy Soonyoung and noisy Mingyu’. The dragon hybrid is in fact the complete opposite of noisy right now, curled up pitifully in a foetal position on his bed with the covers pulled up to his chin despite the boy usually kicking them off. 

He sets Mingyu down on his bed beside Soonyoung’s (probably how Soonyoung had gotten his cold anyways), giving one last kiss to the top of his head before moving to settle Jihoon down. “Jihoonie, you don’t wanna get Wonwoo-yah sick, do you?” 

Jihoon pauses for a moment in his squirming to slowly shake his head, looking down at Jeonghan’s feet. “No…” 

“That’s my good boy, now what do you eat for lunch? Some of Appa’s chicken noodle soup?” 

“Yeah, Appa’s soup is the best!” 

That’s right it is, the recipe is one of the only good things he’s gotten from his family after all (besides his dashing good looks of course). 

He pinches the tip of Jihoon’s nose lightly and manages to get a giggle out of the kitsune, kissing his white hair and sitting him down at the desk with his toy piano. He guesses that Jihoon will still be up and about for another few hours before the cold really starts to kick in, so the kitsune might as well enjoy it before he’s bedridden because there’s absolutely no way he’s not going to get sick with how Mingyu sneezed directly into his face. 

By the time he gets back out to the living room, Wonwoo is sitting where he’d left him, _sulking_. He knows how attached Wonwoo is to Soonyoung, but it would really be against everything he knows as a parent to let him get sick too when he can very easily prevent it. 

“Don’t be like that, Wonwoo-yah, it’s for your own good. Appa doesn’t want you to get sick too.”

Wonwoo doesn’t respond and instead faces away from him, shoulders slumped unhappily and small hands gripping tightly at a pillow. Jeonghan ignores the little bubble of hurt that nudges at his ribs; let Wonwoo hate him for a little while, he’d rather that then let his water baby suffer along with his other babies too. 

He doesn’t think much of the dryness of his lips or the slight tickle in his throat as he’s adding some pepper to his soup, because he simply cannot get sick when his babies need him. 

No sir. 

 

* * *

 

“Hannie? i’ve got the medicine you asked for… Oh god,” Seungcheol comes to a screeching halt right as he’s poking his head into the kids room, stomach positively sinking as his gaze falls upon the sight of _all_ of his babies looking so pale and very much unwell. 

The last update his mate had sent him was that Wonwoo had managed to escape the flu bug, so why was he lying beside Soonyoung in the dragon hybrid’s bed looking just as sick as he was? Their dragon baby had his arms wrapped around Wonwoo’s middle, face pressed up against his brother’s shoulder and sleeping soundly. Soonyoung was usually so full of life, so happy and energetic, seeing him so weak and tired just broke Seungcheol’s heart. 

Jeonghan was lying on Jihoon’s bed with the kitsune cradled securely in his arms, breathing sounding ever so slightly laboured as he sleeps. Lying on Jeonghan’s stomach was what looked like a small brown and white beagle puppy, curled up into a ball with its nose creating a small wet patch on Jeonghan’s shirt. 

“Baby?” his mate croaks out, blinking blearily up at him even as his hands continue to move and rub comforting circles over Jihoon and (what he assumes to be) Mingyu. “Can you check on Chan for me? I didn’t wanna get too close to him because I was starting to show some symptoms, he was sleeping when I left him.” 

Seungcheol makes an attempt to come closer to his husband and his children but Jeonghan shoots him a warning look, eyes hard and not open for argument. “Don’t you dare, you are the sole surviving adult in this house and you shall _not_ get sick or I will _kill_ you.” 

He doesn’t doubt this threat whatsoever so he chooses to stay by the door, no matter how much his inner alpha is growling at him to go to his family and care for them. But Jeonghan is right, it’d be no use if he got sick too, then who would take care of Channie?!

“I’ll get some porridge on for all of you after I check on Channie, shout if there’s anything you all need, I’ll bring a refill of water for all of you too.”

This is the time he’d usually be getting a soft ‘welcome home’ kiss from his mate, be giving hugs and nuzzles to his children. But instead today all he can do is watch as they cough and sneeze and shiver, in pain and there’s not a single damn he can do. He’d take on all of their suffering if he could, but for now all he can do is make sure they don’t go hungry. 

Chan is awake when he walks into the bedroom, little eyes starting to well up with tears at the very sight of him. “Don’t cry, Channie, Appa is here, Appa is here…” 

They’d set Chan on a fixed feeding and changing schedule so he’s sure Jeonghan would have made sure to feed him somehow before locking himself and the kids away, which is just one less thing for him to worry about while he works on taking care of the others. “Channie must have been so lonely today, but Hannie-Appa is sick so he didn’t wanna get Channie sick too, he loves you all so, so much.” 

Halfway through washing the rice and getting it in the rice cooker to make porridge, he hears a loud puppy-sounding sneeze followed by what he recognises as the sound of Jeonghan’s classic pterodactyl screech, alarm squeezing his heart. Seungcheol removes Chan from the little sling carrier he has strapped across his chest and sets him in the foam pen, knowing very well that Jeonghan will actually _murder_ him no matter how sick he’s feeling if he brings Chan into the house’s designated sick bay. 

“Hannie?” he calls out tentatively, poking his head in through the gap in the door. 

Inside beagle-Mingyu is nowhere to be seen, though there is a dark brown oblique shape on the bed where Jeonghan had been lying earlier that looks suspiciously like the bug both he and Jeonghan utterly despise. Jihoon has been yanked out of bed and is clutching onto Jeonghan’s neck for dear life as the angel cowers in fear from the little wriggling pest. 

They all know the cockroach is Mingyu but that doesn’t distract from the fact that he has at least three times more legs than he should. Eventually Wonwoo is the one that approaches Mingyu first, squirming his way out of Soonyoung’s sleepy death grip and and kneeling down beside Jihoon’s bed. He lets Mingyu crawl slowly onto the palm of his hand and whispers something to him that none of the rest of them can hear. 

Mingyu’s red-nosed, swollen-eyed face greets him not long after Wonwoo returns the tiny cockroach to the bed, grabby hands reaching for him and Jeonghan as he pouts sadly. “I sick,” he mumbles as Jeonghan kisses the top of his dark hair (after shooting a very warning look towards Seungcheol). “I no feel good…” 

“We all don’t feel good,” Jihoon snaps, the slowly budding cold turning his voice nasal and his mood irritable. 

Jeonghan eyes him meaningfully. “Jihoon, don’t be rude, Mingyu’s sick too.” 

“He _sneezed_ in my _face_.” 

“Some things just happen-“

“He _washed_ Wolfie,” Mingyu’s slight brownie blood meant that the boy was more often than not always cleaning something or other around the house, and he had obviously been unaware that Jihoon almost never washed his stuffed wolf toy because the kitsune had been completely horrified to find the toy hanging from the drying line, dripping wet and devoid of all the scents he’s worked so hard to get on it. 

“Hoonie,” Seungcheol finally pipes up, eyeing Wonwoo returning to bed with Soonyoung now that Mingyu was being taken care of, “Mingyu was just trying to do something nice for you.” 

Jihoon’s scowl drops slightly as he looks towards him, expression slightly sheepish. “But _Appa_ … He got us all _sick_ … Hoonie _hates_ being sick…” 

“Soonie don’t like being sick too…” Soonyoung groans up from where he’s cuddled up to Wonwoo, his eyes bloodshot as he stares pleadingly at Seungcheol for him to do something to make him feel better. 

They do have the fever patches but those are only for soothing and not curing-

What is he even on about? Anything that will make his babies feel better is good enough. 

He’s about to turn on his heels to grab the patches for them when he catches sight of Jeonghan swaying Mingyu in his arms slowly, humming softly to the shapeshifter to get him to rest. Despite the greasiness of the angel’s hair and the pallor of his skin, he still looks so utterly, devastatingly beautiful that Seungcheol’s feet are carrying him across the room and he’s leaning down to kiss him gently on the lips before he even realises what he’s doing. 

For the briefest of moments there’s no worry about sickness or bugs or colds or boiling porridge, there’s only him and his beautiful, loving husband and the way their lips mould so perfectly together. It feels so downright magical that he barely even registers the smack Jeonghan lands on his shoulder for not listening to him, his body humming in appreciation. 

Somehow Seungcheol does _not_ get sick despite his little act of rebellion the previous night (which Jeonghan is extremely indignant about), though that doesn’t stop him from _pretending_ to be when he calls up his boss the next morning to ask for a day off. And, well if he catches a cold from snuggling his babies all that very day, then it’s a good thing his boss likes him anyways.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I HAVE RETURNED DEAR READERS!!! My exams are finally over and I'm so relieved you have no idea, I've finally gotten a good nights sleep in over a month T_T. This is just a short little drabble chapter to get me back into the flow of writing but I hope you all like it regardless. I just couldn't resist writing Germgyu, it was literally the perfect subject to write on!!! Well I hope you all enjoyed the chapter, please leave a comment and kudos if you wanna! It really makes my day!
> 
> <3


	12. First Words

**Year 3, November 11th**

**We’d had on a running bet about whose name Chan would be saying first, but we hadn’t exactly expected this outcome (Jeonghan would have definitely bet on it if they did).**

 

Seungcheol is pretty sure that it’s Wonwoo’s bony little elbow jabbing into the side of his ribs as they’re watching Lion King for the nth time on one of their rare, calm Saturday nights, but he simply can’t bring himself to do anything about it as he watches Soonyoung cling oh so tightly to the nereid in his excitement at the movie. The things he does for his children…

He’s honestly two more times away from suggesting they watch some other Disney movie for a change rather than Lion King, because there’s really only so much Hakuna Matata one can take before he starts crying at the sound of it. Though he says this all the time, he has yet to properly act on it because how could he possibly when the kids look so goddarned cute dancing and singing in their living room to “I Just Can’t Wait to Be King”. Heck, Seungcheol could probably join them at this point, full choreography and formations and everything. 

Soonyoung’s been in the process of attempting to teach his brothers some dance moves the young dragon hybrid had come up with himself to the song, and Seungcheol has found himself with newfound respect for his son for having managed to drag Jihoon of all people in with his escapades. So far it just looks like a lot of arm flapping and kicking to him, but Seungcheol is sure his little dragon baby will be a brilliant dancer one day. He has potential, that one does. 

“Appa! Sing! Sing!” Soonyoung shouts in glee as “Can You Feel the Love” starts to come on, smacking him roughly on the arm to get his attention, pointing excitedly at the TV screen with a huge, gap toothed grin spread across his cheeks. His wings are flapping madly behind him, (fortunately) missing Jihoon’s face as he bounces up and down on the couch. The dragon hybrid turns to look to Jeonghan with an equally large smile, “Appa! Sing!” 

“Sing!” Mingyu echoes, clapping happily, which Chan copies with a sleepy eyed smile of his own. 

It’s a little later than Chan usually sleeps, but the little halfer had had a long nap that afternoon, and had refused to be put to bed while his big brothers were all still up. Jeonghan (read: Seungcheol) has always been much too soft for his children’s requests. 

His mate chuckles and leans over to press a kiss to the dragon hybrid’s forehead, Mingyu squirming uncomfortably in his lap as he does. “Well, Cheol, the children have spoken, let’s show them what the years of karaoke in college has been for, huh?” 

Despite any arguments that had been on the tip of his tongue just moments prior, the sight of his mate’s lightly flushed cheeks and the anticipation glittering in Jihoon’s eyes as the kitsune stares up at him from Jeonghan’s side has him sighing in resignation just as the first bars of the song starts to blare out of their speakers. He doesn’t think his voice will ever sound anywhere near as angelic as his literal angel’s does, but that’s perfectly fine because he’s the one that gets to wake up in the morning (very, very occasionally) to the sound of that lovely voice ringing out through the house as the angel cooks breakfast for the family. 

The boys are all cheering as their fathers get more and more into the song, even little Channie though Seungcheol doubts the halfer has much understanding of what’s actually going on. And by the end of the song, all seven members of the family are singing along to the song playing on the television (if one counted Chan’s unintelligible babbling as singing). Soonyoung has hopped off the couch and is dancing around in front of it, Wonwoo and Mingyu’s hands clutched tightly in his own as he spins the three of them around a laughing Jihoon. Seungcheol has to fight a smile at the sight of the kitsune actually getting along and playing with his brothers, remembering the days of sulking and scowls far clearer than he wishes he did. They’ve all come a long way…

Seungcheol turns his head to glance over at his husband, the latter staring at their growing brood with fond, adoring eyes. There’s a brief flash of a long buried memory through his mind, of tears in those very beautiful eyes, of hands clutching desperately at a small, delicate body as cat-like eyes fade further and further from view. The familiar stab of pain that accompanies the memory Seungcheol has tried so hard to forget shoots across his chest, tightening around his lungs until he feels like he can’t breathe. 

And then his angel reaches across the now vacated couch to take his hand, probably having seen the distress colouring his aura. Jeonghan doesn’t say a word but his eyes are full of meaning, and Seungcheol merely shakes his head with a small smile in reply. With the sounds of Lion King and their children in the background, Seungcheol feels suddenly so immensely grateful for the hand he’s been dealt in life that he doesn’t even think twice about leaning across the expanse of the couch to press his lips to the awaiting ones of his mate, his love. 

The cries of _“Eww gross!”_ and _“Appa’s kissing!”_ from their kids are ringing in his ears but for that brief, brief moment, all he can think of is how his life couldn’t possibly get anymore perfect than this. When he finally pulls away after what feels like an eternity but was undoubtedly just a few seconds, he turns to look at the boys and feels bubbles of laughter build up in his throat at the sight of them. 

Wonwoo has his hands covering Soonyoung’s eyes, the young dragon hybrid protesting furiously at this action and demanding to see, the former’s own eyes squeezed almost comically shut. Jihoon is staring at them with the most distaste a four year old can muster and shakes his head in disapproval, hugging his wolf plushie tightly and discreetly rubbing the underside of his chin against its soft, furry head. 

The kitsune’s been doing that ever since the second time Mingyu had washed it, for some reason not having learnt his lesson from the first time he’d done it. Seungcheol spares a thought to wonder if the scenting had been a habit the kitsune had picked up from himself, not quite knowing if it was a kitsune trait to begin with at all. 

After the song is over, Jihoon and Wonwoo seem to have lost interest in the movie, turning instead to play with their respective toys in favour of watching the animated film. Soonyoung and Mingyu however remain thoroughly enthralled, hanging onto the edge of the couch as the movie takes a dramatic turn. Chan too seems rather fascinated, but Seungcheol accredits most of that to the pretty colours rather than the actual content. 

“Look Nonu look! Simba’s gonna go fight Scar!” Soonyoung tugs at the sleeve of Wonwoo’s shirt excitedly, earning himself a noncommittal grunt from the nereid who has now chosen to continue reading the new book Seungcheol had gotten for him after work the previous day. It was something about fishes and mermaids; the cover had looked a little more pink and girly than what was usually acceptable for boys, but his son likes fish and hell if gender roles were going to stand in the way of him and his fish. 

Jihoon is tapping away at the (slightly larger) toy piano he and Jeonghan had upgraded him to after his first one had gotten too small for him, and Seungcheol feels a wave of pride wash over him at how the kitsune has remembered to lower the volume on it as to not disturb the rest of the family. A cranky Soonyoung and Mingyu the day after Jihoon had kept them up all night with his playing were _not_ fun to deal with _whatsoever_. 

Seungcheol perks up at the sound of a few familiar bars coming from the kitsune’s piano and smiles fondly at the four year old; the boy really does have a gift. Some online searches and advice from Seungcheol’s mother told him that the best time to start enrolling Jihoon in piano and music classes was after they were enrolled in any sort of early education; something about attention spans and hand sizes, Seungcheol kind of let his attention drift after that. 

Though, looking at Jihoon now, he thinks the boy is more than ready to actually start learning to play beyond tinkering on a toy and whatever basics he and his mate can teach him. 

“Nonu Nonu Nonu!” Soonyoung is still calling, the nereid continuing to not pay the dragon hybrid any heed. Eventually Soonyoung’s little shoulders slump and he shuffles across the couch towards Mingyu instead, the shapeshifter attempting to mimic the animals on screen with varying degrees of success. At the disappearance of Soonyoung’s trilling giggles, Wonwoo finally looks up from his book to see where his brother had gone, only for his face to fall ever so slightly at the sight of the dragon hybrid playing with Mingyu instead. 

The nereid opens his mouth, as if to call out for Soonyoung to come back. But no sound escapes him and his mouth closes once more, turning back to the book clenched ever so slightly tighter in the grip of his little hands.  Seungcheol spots his mate’s pursed lips as the angel witnesses the same thing he had, and he can only hope this current situation doesn’t get any worse in the future. 

“Popcorn!” Soonyoung calls out once the large bowl of the caramel, buttery goodness in front of him had been depleted, looking over at him with the most pitiful pout he ever did see and tugging effortlessly on his heartstrings. Mingyu echoes this sentiment and mimics his brother’s pout, hitting Seungcheol with the dad-feels at two times strong. 

He’s weak. He is _so_ _weak_. 

Seungcheol stands up and walks around the couch to lift Soonyoung up from the back of it onto his shoulders, being mindful of the happily flapping wings. He and Jeonghan had been cut several times by the glistening scales that line the bone portion of the membraneous dragon wings, as well as by the gradually growing (and sharpening) talon on the ends of the main frame of them. “Come on dragon baby, you’ll come and help Appa make it, okay?” 

“Okay Appa!” Soonyoung says, nuzzling his cheek into the top of Seungcheol’s head as he walks the two of them to the kitchen. He and Jeonghan had gotten a popcorn machine from one of their many friends as a wedding gift way back when, and they’d found that it came to great use during movie and game nights with the kids. Not to mention he himself is an absolute sucker for the stuff, and he’s been with his little devil of an angel long enough to feel little to no remorse in using the kids as an excuse to whip up a batch. 

The cinema stuff is just overpriced and nowhere near as good as his homemade recipe. 

Drifting over to them from the living room is the sound of Mingyu explaining the story of the movie they’ve been watching to Jeonghan, though the angel has watched it at least five times more than the young shapeshifter. The boy’s words though a little stumbled at times and slurred where he’s rushing to get them out in his excitement, are still very much fluent and clear for a boy his age, and Seungcheol is once against gobsmacked by how quickly his boys are all growing up. It is at the sound of a loud, ringing giggle from the household’s youngest that Seungcheol’s spirits fall ever so slightly despite himself. 

Chan’s pretty overdue to start talking, or at the very least for his first words. He and Jeonghan have been making bets as to whose name the infant would be saying first, and have thus far agreed to call it a draw if it’s ‘Appa’. Though, at this point, Seungcheol would take ‘no’ or ‘apple’ (his and Jeonghan’s first words according to their parents) if it meant that Chan would just start talking. He knows that all children are different and that there is technically no set age for them to start, but he still worries, as all parents do. 

There’d been an incident not too long ago when they’d thought the boy had been about to say his first words, though the opening of his mouth had turned out to be just to let out the most humongous yawn Seungcheol had ever seen and promptly fall asleep soon thereafter. He and Jeonghan had been very much disappointed, but it had been so cute they couldn’t stay upset for very long. 

They’re both so, _so_ weak. 

“Pop!” Soonyoung exclaims, staring intently at the popcorn machine they’d brought out from storage earlier on in the night and laughing joyously as the first of the kernels he’d helped to put in began to pop and fly around behind the glass. 

Seungcheol’s heart absolutely _melts_. 

So weak.

 

* * *

 

“Can Channie have popcorn, Appa?” Soonyoung asks him, a tiny, broken off piece of popcorn clutched between his little fingers as he stares up at him imploringly. Jeonghan smiles at the dragon hybrid and takes a moment to stroke his hair before nodding. 

“Sure he can, sweetie, but make sure it’s really small and not too hard so Channie can eat it, okay?” he murmurs, trying not to wake up the sleeping kitsune in his arms. Jihoon had conked out not too long into the third Lion King movie, having woken up earlier than all of his brothers that morning. Jeonghan would never admit to any outsiders how high pitched of a squeak he’d made when the kitsune had stumbled in to their bedroom in the morning, his shock of white hair in complete disarray as the boy rubbed tiredly at his eyes. 

You couldn’t _blame_ him, you’d be a little startled too if you woke up to the sight of a small, pale white figure standing at the foot of your bed in the dark. 

Soonyoung holds the tiny piece of popcorn up to Chan’s lips with an exaggeratedly wide mouth of his own. “Say _ahh_ , Channie, _ahhhhhh_ …” Chan obediently opens his mouth despite the tired drooping of his eyelids, sucking thoughtfully on the little fragment of popcorn as the halfer decided whether or not he liked it after all. Then, the infant’s eyes widened and a toothless grin spread over his chubby little cheeks, smacking happily at Soonyoung’s head as he babbled. 

Seems like Channie likes popcorn. _Just like his father_ , Jeonghan thinks as he rolls his eyes; now there were going to be four popcorn fiends in the house. He, Jihoon and Wonwoo were rather unfairly outnumbered now, after all what hope did they have of being able to compete against the _baby_. 

The dragon hybrid smiles at this and nuzzles his nose against Chan’s, making the halfer babble even louder. Chan has always adored Soonyoung, and Jeonghan accredits this to how the dragon hybrid has been fussing over him since the first day the halfer arrived. Soonyoung and Mingyu are the most affectionate of their children, their little hearts of gold and childish stubbornness making it near impossible for the other kids to resist them for long. 

Jeonghan looks over towards his husband at the other end of the couch, the werewolf watching over the playing children with a warm, fond gaze that reminds Jeonghan exactly why he’d said yes when the elder had proposed. In all of his history of bad dates and equally bad boyfriends, Jeonghan hadn’t quite been able to believe that someone as perfect and kind and _good_ as Seungcheol had wanted to be friends with his failure of an angel self, even less so when the werewolf had made his romantic intents clear. 

It had seemed entirely impossible at the beginning, but look at them now. 

Soonyoung is preparing to lift another small piece of popcorn to Chan’s lips when it happens. 

“Soon,” Chan whispers, voice shaky and slurred around Soonyoung’s name. Jeonghan can actually feel his heart stop. All that was going through his head at that very moment was _KJHADfkugkabvavb_ because praise the angels his baby’s said his first word and he’s just feeling a little emotional right now. “Soon,” Chan repeats once again, which is when the kids all simultaneously erupt into chaos. 

Even Jihoon has awoken for this, elbowing Wonwoo and Mingyu to keep them away as all of them crowd around their littlest brother, repeating their names loud and slow to get the baby to say their names too. Wonwoo is holding up a piece of popcorn much too large for little Chan to eat, and poor Mingyu is being squished under Jihoon as the kitsune does the same. 

Gosh, he’s tearing up a little—his baby’s growing up. 

When he shifts his gaze to Seungcheol he has to hold back a laugh at the sight of the uncontrollable fountains pouring out from his husband’s eyes, the werewolf sniffling noisily as he stares over at Chan. 

He can’t say he doesn’t understand, though, in fact he understands very well. 

But that’ll be for him to write in Chan’s baby book later once they’ve put all the kids to bed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And here we are!!!! Sorry it's still not the next babby but this was such a momentous occasion I couldn't imagine not writing a chapter for it!!! Thanks to any of my existing readers that have read and supported my Junhao biker AU onset, it really means a lot to me you guys have no idea TT. I know I tend to focus on Soonyoung a lot but I honestly can't help it, he's such an adorable little babby to write and I love him to bits! I promise promise promise to focus more on the other kids in later chapters but so far I hope you've enjoyed this chapter and that you found it cute because I certainly did <3 
> 
> Leave a comment and some kudos if you feel like, and have a nice day!


	13. Winter Barbecue

**Year 3, December 28th**

**Children under the age of five + fireworks and miscellaneous other sources of heat (the barbecue and our resident dragon hybrid) is a bad, bad idea.**

 

“Who’s ready for the barbecue!?” Seungcheol roars, a bag of coals in one hand and a pair of shiny silver tongs in the other, well and prepped for the night. Jeonghan smiles at his husband from the door to the back porch, chest filling with warmth at the sight of Seungcheol’s bright, beaming grin. He’s been looking forward to a barbecue for years now ever since they first got Soonyoung and Wonwoo, but with the kids so little and uncoordinated before it had never seemed like a good time. 

But somehow in Seungcheol’s eyes, right in the _middle_ _of_ _winter_ was _obviously_ the best time for it. 

Well, at least he was doing all the work. 

While his mate had been busy slaving away in the backyard setting up the grill and whatever else that’s involved in a barbecue because hell if Jeonghan’s family has never ‘ _stooped to such humanlike activities_ ’, Jeonghan has been trying to get his babies all warm and dressed for the event so they don’t freeze their cute little behinds off before the new year can even ring in. Soonyoung he’s not particularly worried about due to his naturally higher body temperature, which is a good thing for Jeonghan because trying to get Soonyoung dressed on a regular day was hard enough so let’s not even get started on trying to get more than four layers on him. 

Jihoon however needs at least six as to not turn into a kitsune popsicle, his still tiny stature resulting in not a lot of body fat available for the retention of warmth. Wonwoo’s pretty good with cold though he doesn’t like being in it for too long, so Jeonghan can already foresee a lot of ‘thaw breaks’ throughout the barbecue for Wonwoo to go inside the house and warm up. Mingyu and Chan are still too little to be spending so much time outside in the cold anyways, so they’ll probably be joining Wonwoo on his breaks too. 

As a result of Jeonghan’s overzealous dressing and layering of the kids, they all look like marshmallows of varying sizes and colours, especially Jihoon in the white coat Jeonghan had got him in. 

This is so goddamn cute he needs a picture. 

“READY!!!” Soonyoung and Mingyu shouts in reply, waving their little colourful plastic forks around like Seungcheol was. Jihoon claps his hands and smiles but doesn’t make the same racket as his brothers, preferring to stick close to Seungcheol’s legs for comfort. His nose is a cute little button of red that stands out against the paleness of his skin, and Jeonghan’d be worried if he hadn’t stashed maybe a million heat-packs in advance all over the place. 

He kneels down beside Wonwoo and hands him one of the aforementioned heat-packs. “Help warm up Jihoonie’s nose, Wonwoo-yah?” he asks, to which the nereid nods seriously and takes it in his hands. Wonwoo stumbles over to where Jihoon is standing, nearly slipping once or twice as he goes on the small, pitiful patches of snow still remaining on the lawn. He presses the heat-pack to Jihoon’s nose, to which the boy’s cheeks flush from embarrassment and he smiles shyly. 

In his excitement, Mingyu’s ears has shifted into those of his favourite beagle form, twitching excitedly on the top of his head as Seungcheol begins to light the coals up with a much too dramatically large lighter. Jeonghan has to hold Soonyoung back as the dragon hybrid attempts to make a run for the slowly crackling flames; the boy might be fireproof but his clothes are most certainly not (and neither is the house, might he add). 

Chan is bundled up as warm as Jeonghan could get him, but the little halfer is already looking utterly miserable and exactly 5.6 seconds away from starting to shatter everyone’s eardrums so Jeonghan thinks he’ll get him back into the house after their obligatory family picture. “Cheol! Pause for a bit! Let’s take some pictures!” 

His husband turns to him with a pout, gloved hands midway through poking at the faintly glowing coals. “Okay…” he mumbles, setting down his poker a lot more mournfully than he honestly should. They’d set up the camera on their pseudo tripod of five books and two and a half chairs a little earlier so it’s all ready to go, the children on the other hand are a whole other struggle altogether. 

Jihoon is refusing to leave his perch by Seungcheol’s legs to stand at his designated spot in the centre of the group so that the pictures come out nice and symmetrical; Soonyoung is trying to make a grab for the hot coals; Wonwoo is shivering despite the two million layers Jeonghan put on him and blinking at him with pleading eyes; and the tips of Mingyu’s beagle are starting to get coated with frost. This is a recipe for disaster. 

“Everyone just freeze where you are, Appa’s gonna run for the camera,” Seungcheol shouts, somehow managing to get all of the kids to stand still as he makes a wild dash for the camera, pressing the button and sprinting back to the group, scooping the shivering Wonwoo up into his arms just in time for the shutter to go off. 

Jeonghan has a nagging suspicion that Jihoon may very well have been scowling in the picture but he swears, they will stay here until he gets the pictures he wants. They’ll thank him when they’re older. 

“Appa!” Mingyu is pulling at the bottom of his trousers with a big grin. “Carry!” 

Seungcheol, Soonyoung and Jihoon are busy fussing with the camera to reset it, with Wonwoo hovering just behind the dragon hybrid as he always does. Chan is strapped to Seungcheol’s chest in a little sling carrier so his hands are free, so he gladly accepts the young shapeshifter into his arms and hoists the boy onto his hip. Mingyu starts pulling at his hair the second he can reach it, sniffing at the long brown strands much like a puppy would. 

Among the kids, Jeonghan would say that Jihoon and Soonyoung have the best sense of smell, what with their innate animalistic selves, but Mingyu would definitely come in at a close second. Jeonghan doesn’t know how Mingyu can tell exactly how many dogs Seungcheol petted on his way home from work, but the boy gets very unnecessarily jealous when he smells more than three. 

“I’m hungry, are you hungry, Mingyu-ah?” he asks the shapeshifter, booping him on the nose just to hear his tinkling giggle. He loves hearing children laugh, it’s really the best sound he’ll ever hear. However his little brows soon furrow into a frown, wiggling in his hold. 

“I make food for you, Appa,” Mingyu says, pushing against his chest with his hands, puppy ears perked up on top of his head. Jeonghan just hugs him tighter, not letting the boy down no matter how much he struggles. He and Seungcheol have been wondering how to deal with Mingyu’s incessant obedience, noticing just how much power words hold over him. 

He listens to Wonwoo especially well, doing literally anything the nereid asks of him without even a second’s hesitation. They’re not sure if Wonwoo has noticed this yet though, but they hope he won’t abuse it. Sometimes Jeonghan walks into the kids’ room in the morning to find Mingyu curled up as a puppy or some equally small animal on top of Wonwoo’s stomach, snoring softly as the older boy sleeps on soundly. 

It seems like Soonyoung will be getting some competition for Wonwoo’s attention after all. 

“No no, Mingyu-ah, you don’t go near the grill, okay? Cheollie-Appa will handle all of it, you just have a fun time playing with your brothers.” 

The sound of his husband’s shout and the children’s subsequent squeals has him and Mingyu turning to look back at the camera with bright smiles on their faces, Jeonghan pinching at Mingyu’s side to get him to laugh just in time for the shutter to go off. 

The pictures turn out quite nicely, definitely frame worthy and going on the wall in time for the new year celebrations and house parties. The new year…

They’ve been with Jihoon for three years now, the rest not quite as long but it sure feels like they’ve been a family from the very start. Jeonghan can’t imagine a future without seeing all five of his boys creating a humongous mess for him to clean in the living room, rushing through bathing Wonwoo with Soonyoung trying to get into the tub as well, watching the boys cooing and playing with Chan… 

As if hearing what Jeonghan is thinking, Seungcheol turns to look at him with a soft look in his eyes, open and so utterly loving that Jeonghan can actually feel his heart skip a beat. They _made_ this: this home, this family, this world; the two of them together, through the struggles and the tears and the worries. 

There’s not a single moment that he regrets-

“OH SHIT!” Seungcheol shouts as the coals suddenly flare up with flames a good five feet high, illuminating his face in the growing darkness of the backyard. 

“SHIT!” Jihoon, Mingyu, Soonyoung, and _Chan_ (to Jeonghan's utter horror) repeat, all four of them looking suitably awed at the sight of the massive tower of flame Seungcheol has somehow created. 

-he regrets agreeing to a barbeque. 

“Don’t repeat that!” he shouts over at the boys, praising whatever lord that may be watching for gifting him at least one good child in the form of Wonwoo. He won’t thank anyone for Chan just yet, because he has the awful nagging suspicion that the halfer would be there right along with his elder brothers if only he could talk. 

He shoots his husband a scathing glare, ignoring the werewolf’s sheepish smile. “What have we said about swearing in front of the pure innocent youths?” 

“To not do it…” Seungcheol mumbles, turning over a hamburger patty forlornly on the grill. Jeonghan has to admit that the smell wafting over from it is absolutely delectable, and judging by the way all of the kids seem to have forgotten how cold it is in favour of crowding around it he supposes they think so too. 

Chan had been napping for the majority of the day so it doesn’t really come as a surprise to him that the infant is now wide awake and babbling in his arms. Despite his inability to talk quite yet, the half-angel has gotten quite skilled at communicating, with Soonyoung understanding his mumbles and grumbles the best out of all of them. That had been pretty expected too, what with how fond the dragon hybrid had been of Chan from day one. 

“Fire…” Soonyoung says in awe as he stares fixedly on the light smattering of flames on the coals, the only thing keeping him for sticking his hand into them being Wonwoo’s tight grip on it as the two hold hands. Jeonghan has to smile at this; Wonwoo has always been the best at taking care of Soonyoung. 

Seungcheol bumps slightly into the grill as he hurries to get the next batch of food on, the fire dying down a little as a result which inevitably leads to his husband’s complete and utter panic. “Oh no oh no, sugar sugar sugar,” he fumbles with the poker once again to try and get the flames back to their previous state, somehow managing to make it even worse. “Soonie~” 

Although Soonyoung’s affinity with fire had been a little uncontrollable when he was younger, now the boy has gotten just about old enough to manipulate them just enough so that he doesn’t burn the house down every time he sneezes. Jeonghan counts this as a win, because he’s grown rather fond of this house and would prefer to keep it in its nice, pristine, non-singed state. Soonyoung toddles closer to Seungcheol with his bright 10:10 grin in place, still holding on to Wonwoo’s hand with their fingers interlinked in a way that has Jeonghan absolutely _melting_. 

Needless to say many pictures were taken. 

“Help Appa blow some fire on the coals?” Seungcheol asks, patting Soonyoung on the head as the young dragon hybrid nods seriously and sucks in a deep lungful of air. 

The bright roar of flame that escapes Soonyoung’s lips would have worried a weaker hearted parent, but Jeonghan is well used to these sorts of sights around these parts. In fact, just the other day he’d walked into the bathroom to find Wonwoo rolling about in their (very nice) large bathtub in a giant water bubble. 

He’d barely even been _phased_. 

(Lies; he nearly drowned himself trying to get Wonwoo out)

“Good job Soonie!” Seungcheol bends down slightly to give Soonyoung a high five, the dragon hybrid hopping up to smack their palms together with a giggle. 

  
“Good job Soonie!” he repeats, tugging at Wonwoo’s hand to get him to say it too. If the nereid does, Jeonghan doesn’t hear over the squeals of the other children as Seungcheol produces the first platter of food. Thank god, he’s been starving for ages. 

The meat is a little on the medium side for his tastes but he has not a doubt that the kids will like it anyways. He watches them chow down on the portions he’d taken for them from their designated bowls, face and hands getting rather grubby with all the fats and oils and grease. Jeonghan is internally wincing at how much this is throwing off the healthy diet he’s tried his best to keep him on despite how much Jihoon and Mingyu detest vegetables, but he supposes this has been a long time coming anyways. 

He scarfs down his own food quickly, grabbing a lettuce leaf from the pile and using it to make a wrap for his mate. Seungcheol had told him about the weight making food and feeding your lovers carries for werewolves has not long after they first met, after Jeonghan had gotten curious about how the werewolf never let his girlfriend at the time give him or make him anything to eat. Accepting it would have meant taking the first steps in a lifelong courtship, and that had been one of the first things Seungcheol ever did with him when they eventually started dating.

  
Seungcheol had always been forever, even before Jeonghan fully realised it. 

The lettuce wrap is a little icier than Jeonghan would have preferred, but the warmth in Seungcheol’s eyes as he gratefully takes a large bite out of it while still managing the grill is enough to melt it, Jeonghan is sure. 

“FIRE!” Soonyoung shouts suddenly, waving his arms up into the air just as a raging pillar of flame rises from the top of the grill to a good two feet above their heads. 

Seungcheol sputters and jumps out of the way of the blast, mourning the last little bit of scorched meat left abandoned on the metal. “That’s dangerous, Soonie! Don’t do that!” he scolds, though Jeonghan is just grateful this had happened outdoors rather than inside his shiny kitchen. 

Mingyu is slowly shifting even further and further into beagle form as the night progresses, patches of fur already starting to appear on his skin. He’d placed Chan down to sleep in his crib not too long ago, knowing the baby couldn’t handle the cold quite as well as his elder brothers just yet. Wonwoo is sitting quietly beside Jihoon, obediently taking the kitsune’s vegetables from his bowl and seeming blissfully ignorant to Jeonghan’s pointed looks. 

He’ll let it slide, though just for tonight. 

 When he brings his focus back to the commotion on the lawn, he finds himself wondering just how they’re going to manage this rowdy bunch when New Years Eve finally rolls around and Soonyoung and Mingyu are begging to play with sparklers and fireworks. He’ll make Seungcheol deal with that, he supposes, as he always does. 

The werewolf does like himself his fireworks.  

He’s not too sure what combining a dragon hybrid and miniature explosives will result in, but Jeonghan is very much willing to try if it means his children will be smiling as brightly as they are tonight, illuminated softly by the light of the stars and the moon.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heyo everybody!! I swear we'll be getting a new babby next chapter but I honestly just couldn't resist writing a barbecue chap because precious babies I cannot. Also I'm well aware today is my one true love Wen Junhui's birthday and I swear I WILL be posting a Junhao fic in celebration of it even if it kills me and I'll be on a plane to write it. MARK MY WORDS. Hope everyone liked this little short chap and just because I've delayed the new babby for so long I'll just give you all a sneak peak of who's coming up next:
> 
> "Kidney function is not a right, it's a privilege." 
> 
> ;) ;) ;) ;)
> 
> Hope everyone liked the chapter and please do leave a comment and kudos if you enjoyed, it really makes my day to read all your sweet comments <3 Look forward to the next babby and send some support for my upcoming Junhao fic!


	14. Hansol

**Hansol (Year 4, February 20th)**

**Seungcheol has always wanted a wolf pup, but he’d never expected… _This_. **

 

“Do you _have_ to go again? It hasn’t even been that long since the last one,” Jeonghan has Soonyoung on his shoulders pulling at his hair as he stands by the door to see Seungcheol off, expression looking rather pensive but deservedly so. The gatherings with his pack had used to be annual, usually meeting at the first signs of spring. But recently the pack leader has been calling for meetings every few months, and despite Seungcheol’s annoyance at this fact he can’t very well ignore them. 

It goes against his nature, and not to mention how painfully his mother would skin him for disrespecting his father like that. 

He leans forward to brush his lips softly over his mate’s, smiling at the loud squeal Soonyoung and their other children let out at their parents being ‘gross’. “I’ll be back in no time, you know that.”

Jeonghan pouts. “I know, but you’re next in line for pack leader and who knows if they’ll make you stay longer to-“ 

He kisses him again to silence his rant, relishing in the way Jeonghan absolutely _melts_ against him as he does. “I’d give up all of that for you and our beautiful children, no hesitation,” he presses one final kiss to the tip of his mate’s nose. “I’ll always come back to you, my love,” he strokes a thumb over the slope of Jeonghan’s cheekbone, “my world,” he kneels to accept all of his children into his arms and wobbles under the weight of all of them launching at him at once. 

Even Channie has started to walk as of late, little stumbles and tumbles here and there inevitable but still utterly adorable in Seungcheol’s eyes. “I’m gonna miss you boys, be good for Hannie-Appa while I’m gone okay?” 

“Okay Appa,” Jihoon mumbles from where his face is buried in Seungcheol’s t-shirt, his fluffy tail hanging sad and limp. Although Jihoon has gotten a little closer with Jeonghan recently, he still ultimately clings to Seungcheol most of the time (which he doesn’t mind because he loves his little fox baby), and always gets rather down whenever Seungcheol has to leave for overnight trips. 

Wonwoo comes up to hand him the bottle of water he’d forgotten and Seungcheol takes it gratefully, squealing inwardly as the nereid kisses his cheek shyly before turning on his heels to run behind Jeonghan. Mingyu is a little braver, leaping up at him to plant wet, sloppy kisses all over his face despite Jihoon’s warning glare as the shapeshifter’s scent gets all over him.

“Bye Appa…” Soonyoung says quietly from his perch on Jeonghan’s shoulders, waving sadly. Despite the two of them managing to get Soonyoung over most of his separation anxiety to the point that he doesn’t start tearing up whenever either one of them leave for work, the little dragon hybrid still gets a little upset whenever Seungcheol has to leave for long trips. But he’s come far, and both he and Jeonghan are so proud of their dragon baby. 

He picks up his duffel and turns away from his family before he gives in to the (admittedly strong) temptation to just flip his father the bird and stay with his favourite people on earth for the weekend instead. “I’ll be home as soon as I can, I love you all.” 

But a little voice inside his head tells him ‘soon’ may not be quite what he expects. 

 

* * *

 

“Seungcheol!” his mother exclaims the moment he pulls up into the driveway, her classic flower patterned apron tied around her waist. His sensitive werewolf nose can already pick up the familiar aroma of her cooking and his stomach lets out a growl despite himself. Although Jeonghan did spend a good amount of time learning his mother’s recipes, Seungcheol supposes it’ll never truly be able to beat the original. 

Especially her cookies— _god_ those are heaven. 

“Eomma!” he wraps his mother’s lithe form up in his arms, inhaling her comforting scent. “Do you need some help cooking for the gathering tonight?” 

Whenever they have these pack gatherings his mother is always in charge of the meal for the first night, with the second night being the hunt. “No it’s alright darling, you go and freshen up in your room, I’m not cooking for too many tonight.” 

This brings a frown to Seungcheol’s face; their pack is one of the biggest in the region, and being present at all meetings called by the pack leader is mandatory. What could have happened while he was away? Almost as if sensing his confusion, his mother reaches up (he outgrew her long ago) to scratch at his head, fingers finding the exact spot he likes within seconds. 

“Don’t worry, Seungcheol-ah, your Appa will explain things to you later,” she sighs and it’s then that Seungcheol catches sight of the dark purple beneath her eyes. “It’s been a long couple of weeks, son. Eomma is glad you’re finally back.” 

He reaches up his free hand to run his thumb along the skin, chest feeling almost painfully tight. “What’s happened since I last visited? Is Appa-“

His mother shushes him. “Just get cleaned up and ready for dinner, I’ve made your favourites.” 

Seungcheol winces; she always makes his favourite dishes when she’s breaking bad news. First it had been his pet goldfish getting eaten by their cat back in primary school, then there’d been when his grandfather had passed away and his father had had to take over the role of pack leader. All Seungcheol can do is to wait for now, because the stern firmness in his mother’s eyes tells him she won’t be letting anything spill until she’s well and ready. 

His room has been converted to a guest room since he got married, but there’s still a few of his trinkets here and there that remain as proof he’d lived there for the most part of his life. The faded glow in the dark stars are still stuck in a random smattering on the ceiling above the bed, the little wolf plush his grandfather had made for him as a child still sitting on the shelf on the wall beside a few miscellaneous books. 

He reaches up to pluck it off, cradling it carefully in his hands. If he sniffs hard enough at it he can just about get the faintest of whiffs of his grandfather’s scent still clinging to the worn material, warm like sunshine on a hot summer’s day, gentle like the breeze that brushes over the blooming daisies. It brings a soft smile to his face despite the slight ache in his chest at the reminder of the loss, and the weathered material of the wolf’s stitched smile has him thinking of his kids’ own (albeit rather gap toothed) grins. 

The wolf plush isn’t returned to the shelf. 

 

* * *

 

“My boy,” are the first words his father says to him the moment he walks in through the door, a wide smile on his cheeks despite the tiredness prevalent in his eyes. He looks just as weathered as his mother, if not more so, and Seungcheol can feel the tenseness of the elder werewolf’s muscles as they hug. His father runs his nose through Seungcheol’s hair in their customary greeting, and Seungcheol bows his head obediently to the higher ranking wolf. 

“How are the children?” his father claps his hand on his back once all the formalities are out of the way, leading him to the dinner table where several members of their pack are already sitting. Though the numbers are still rather overwhelming, Seungcheol can’t help but notice the startlingly obvious gap where the pack’s second should be. The noise isn’t anything to scoff at either, but Seungcheol is used to eating with children all below the age of five. 

A pack of werewolves is _nothing_ compared to the set of lungs Mingyu and Soonyoung have on them. 

Seungcheol takes his seat, heart thudding uncomfortably at the heavy tension permeating his every pore. The pack had tried to act normally with him as he’d greeted them earlier on, but he could just tell by the clenched fists around cutlery and the pointed stares that something was definitely _off_. “They’re fine, Channie’s started walking recently, it’s going to be impossible to control him once he gets those little legs working smoothly.”

He laughs to try and dispel some of the tension in the room but it just comes out sounding weak and forced even to him. 

It’s midway through his second plate of pasta that the elephant in the room threatens to strangle him. “So, where’s Hanbin?” he’s supposed to address the pack’s second with a lot more formality than he does, but the man has been around since before he can remember; in fact, he can’t remember a time Chwe Hanbin _hadn’t_ been in his life, so his empty seat feels just downright wrong. 

He hits the metaphorical nail on the head. His father stabs a little too forcefully into his cut of meat and a few of the other pack members drop whatever spoonfuls of food they had been holding. His mother shoots him a wide eyed stare, face paling visibly before her gaze flicks over to her mate. The whole room is holding their breath, waiting for his father to speak. 

Eventually the pack leader heaves a heavy sigh, placing his cutlery down onto his plate in a clatter of metal against ceramic. “We haven’t intended to hide things from you, Seungcheol, but we had hope that the situation might clear up before you were due to return so we thought best to just keep quiet for a while,” his father says, tired and worn. “There’s been quite a few _discrepancies_ occurring within the pack for the past few months, you see, and they’ve bene growing increasingly violent over time.” 

“Discrepancies?” he asks. “About what?” 

His father purses his lips. “About our current lifestyle,” if Seungcheol hadn't been paying attention, perhaps he might have missed the way his father’s gaze shifted to the empty seat on his right before returning to him. “Hanbin and his family have been _displeased_ with how far integrated into human society we’ve become, and,” he sighs once again, his usually proud shoulders slumped, “he believes that we should all return to the old ways.” 

The old ways? Living in permanent wolf form? _Those_ old ways?

“We will be having a meeting with them in the usual clearing, but almost half of the pack are on his side and are boycotting all of our meetings in human form. I’m sorry for having to call you here in this mess but you are the next in line so-“

“You mentioned that they’ve been getting violent? What do you mean?” out of the corner of his eye he can see his mother flinch at the directness of his question, and Seungcheol sees red at the thought of anyone laying a single finger on her. His mother has never been one for action over words, though none in the pack would ever have dared to go against their Luna. 

“Minor tussles, there hasn’t been any serious injuries, but I want this all over before there are,” the pack leader looks ten years older than he really is, the weight of the situation obviously sitting heavily on his shoulders. “But they’ve been trying to take the pups.”

That makes Seungcheol see red, flashes and memories of Jihoon, Soonyoung, Wonwoo, Chan, Mingyu—all searing through the forefront of his mind. If someone dared lay even a single claw on them, he and Jeonghan would rain hell down upon them all.

Because no one was going to hurt his pack, neither his new nor his old. Not if Seungcheol has anything to say about it. 

 

* * *

 

It’s been a while since Seungcheol has been shifted like this, prepared to spend the entire day in this form amongst the similar lupine figures of his pack. Whenever he shifts back home it’s usually just to get in some bonding with Jihoon who at times prefers the comfort his snowy white fur provides, and despite Jihoon’s own kitsune form he often feels rather isolated. 

But here, surrounded by the sounds of soft whines and grumbles, the faint crackling of leaves under their paws, Seungcheol feels more connected than ever. The shared pack link is like the tiniest frayed end of a long, winding string at the back of his mind, tied firmly in place by blood and his own sworn fealty to the pack leader. 

He hears a whine coming from his right and he turns his head to look at his mother, the pack Luna’s silvery grey fur a complete contrast to his father’s midnight black. His own coat is a mixture of theirs, his haunches draped in black with his belly the same silver as his mother’s. His father’s muscular form is drawn tight with tension, teeth bared and growling softly as the opposing faction makes their appearance in the forest clearing. 

It feels somehow sacrilegious to be holding this meeting here, the hostile emotions running high and strong through the very leaves on the trees around them. This had once been a place of happiness and joy, when pack members from across the country could return to old friends and family and run wild in their base forms. 

Now all Seungcheol can see is anger. 

Hanbin had been _family_ , and Seungcheol has no idea why he would rip that apart. 

The wolves filling the other end of the clearing begin to part, and Seungcheol nudges his mother’s neck with his muzzle to calm her as Chwe Hanbin makes his way to the front of the pack. His eyes are almost unrecognisable to Seungcheol, a sort of strange feralness in them that sends a shiver down the length of Seungcheol’s spine, gone are the warm brown that he remembers watching him fondly as he played as a child. 

Seungcheol does not know this man, this _wolf_. 

And despite himself, despite all the horrors he’s heard about from his family, he feels his heart breaking piece by piece. 

Hanbin’s mate stands by his side, hunched ever so slightly over the two pups running around her legs. The two of them are still as small as Seungcheol remembers them, though he can see the strength that has begun to thread through their gangly limbs since the last time he’d seen them two years ago. Werewolf pups age the same way human children do, with the three year old pups still dependent and clinging to their mother much like a human child would compared to the grown independence of their pure lupine ancestors. 

Though… 

Seungcheol sniffs lightly at the air, all the new scents flooding the clearing making his head spin. He has grown far too used to the measly six in his household, the sweetness of his children making the sharp and musky tangs of the other wolves far more jarring than they should have been. Sitting above all the other scents permeating the air, Seungcheol can smell the warm, milky scent of a nursing mother, and he shoots a glance towards the two pups around Hanbin’s mate, wondering why the scent would be so strong if the pups have fed already. 

There’s something niggling at the back of his mind, a memory he feels he should remember but lays just out of reach. 

He can hear the discussion between the two sides as a mumble of noise around him, the words fading into inconsequentiality as he continues to stare at the pups, wondering exactly what it was he was missing. The sharp stab of utter fury from the pack coming through the bond has him snapping out of his trance just in time to hear the angry words from the other side. 

 _“Your children are weak, dependent on toys and human creations, not even taught how to fight,”_ Hanbin growls, _“if you continue to refuse to join us in our ways I will have them all trained the way our forefathers were.”_

 _“You’re insane, Hanbin,_ ”  a female snarls from over to his left, other wolves echoing her statement with growls of their own. _“You’d throw them into a fight with no prior training? They would die.”_

Seungcheol can almost see Hanbin’s sneer. _“Then so be it.”_

And it’s at this moment that it hits him, that he realises exactly what it was that had been right at the edge of his thoughts, the tip of his tongue. 

Hanbin has _three_ children, not two. 

Seungcheol suddenly feels like he’s been dumped into a freezing lake, the memories of playing with Hanbin’s newborn pups just years prior flooding into the forefront of his mind. There had been three: two boys and a girl. Where was the second boy? Where, where, where?

_“Then so be it.”_

He cannot bring himself to believe that the Hanbin he knew would ever bring harm to his own child, but Seungcheol is only growing more and more aware that this angry, feral wolf is no longer the kind uncle he’d once known. 

But the threat to the pack’s children… Children just like the boys he has waiting for him at home, children he’s seen from the time they still remained in their mother’s bellies. He looks towards his father expectantly; surely he’d show him they wouldn’t be taking this insult sitting down-

 _“Give us a moment to discuss this before we give you a final decision,”_ the pack leader says, voice sounding soft and defeated even to him. Hanbin grumbles out an acknowledgement and withdraws his side to allow them space to deliberate, though Seungcheol finds it utterly mind boggling that they’re even entertaining this ridiculousness at all. 

_“Appa-“_

_“Perhaps we should just give them what they want, for the sake of the children,”_ his father says softly despite the pulses of indignation firing their way through every end of the pack bond. Seungcheol can feel his vision blurring at this, his limbs trembling with betrayal. 

 _“No!”_ he shouts as loudly as he could down the bond, injecting as much alpha authority as he can towards one of higher rank. _“Abeoji, you can’t possible even be contemplating just giving in to that psycho! We have the strength, we won’t lose to him!”_

The pack leader merely stares at him with mournful eyes and Seungcheol can’t even see straight; how could they just _give up_. 

He turns around before he can look into those hopeless amber eyes for even a second longer, stalking off into the underbrush to clear his head before he does or says something he truly regrets. If his father truly just gives in, he won’t be able to go home, he won’t see his children, his _mate_. 

He can’t let that happen.

But alpha command is a terrifying thing. 

The earthy dampness that surrounds him has never smelt more unpleasant, and Seungcheol finds himself with his claws digging into the soil to keep himself grounded. This is not the time to be losing his head, they’ll find a way through this, they always do. 

 _“Help…”_ he hears a high whine coming from his right and his head immediately snaps up, eyes scanning the undergrowth for the source of the sound. Was one of their pack injured? But Hanbin had promised to give them time-

  
It’s then that the direction of the lightly blowing wind changes and Seungcheol is smacked across the face with the overwhelming scent of _pup_. 

He’s running before he even registers his legs moving, the smell so similar to his babies’ that he’s sprinting forward on pure instinct. _Protect, protect, protect._

The pup smells young, no older than five, and much too young to be out on their own in the woods. The scent of the pup is familiar, growing stronger and stronger the closer he gets. He catches sight of a light brown tail sticking out from behind a berry bush, the soft cries for help at its loudest. 

Seungcheol recognises the scent the second the pup is in full view, the sandy colour of its fur the identical image of Chwe Hanbin’s. 

He’s found the other boy. 

“ _Hungry_ …” the pup whimpers, crawling towards him despite the instincts Seungcheol knows must be flooding through him to run and hide from the possible danger he might pose. It only tells him just how hungry the pup must be, and Seungcheol can see proof of it in the way his little ribs jut out from under limp and dehydrated skin. Seungcheol growls softly at this but stops the moment he sees the pup recoil in fear, large eyes wide and limbs trembling. 

He pads closer to the pup and nudges his nose against his head, grooming him briefly to show he means no harm. Eventually the pup slumps against him and seems trusting enough for Seungcheol to gently pick him up in his mouth by the scruff of his neck, turning around to head back towards the pack.

The return trip takes a lot longer than he expects, Seungcheol just now realising just how far out he’d gotten to find the pup. He takes care not to jostle him too much as he walks, but the soft breaths he can hear coming from the pup tells him the boy is fast asleep. He supposes the pup must be starved of affection, starved in general judging by how Seungcheol can see the jutting of his ribs and hip bones. 

By the time he arrives back the two sides of the pack have restarted their arguing, and his approach is noticed only by his mother as her eyes widen upon sight of the pup. _“Hansolie? Seungcheol where did you find him?”_ she barks out, rushing over to them despite her mate’s warning growl. She urges Seungcheol to put him down on the ground for her to see and he complies, watching as her haunches raise in fury once she notices the state the pup— _Hansol_ —is in.

She launches herself to the front of the pack beside her mate, growling in utter lividity at Hanbin and his cowering mate. _“Your own child! You’re so caught up in changing our way of life and eliminating the weak that you abandoned your own child!”_ she snarls, five seconds away from leaping at the Beta to sink her teeth into his neck. 

Hanbin’s eyes flit across their side and settle upon Seungcheol and the pup, now securely held in his mouth for safety, the boy being far too weak to run on his own should the need arise. His gaze promises pain as Seungcheol meets it, claws digging into the earth in anger. He looks back towards Seungcheol’s mother and snaps once in her direction, not instigating a direct fight just yet but sending a message nonetheless. _“It’s none of your business what I do with one of my pups, but that one’s a runt, too weak to be of any use to the pack!”_  

 _“I am the Luna of this pack, head Omega, responsible for all of our pups!”_ his mother snaps back in return, not backing down in the slightest in her rage. _“We do not abandon runts! It is a long ended practice and no longer applicable to the modern world—even runts can grow up to be strong and capable if given the right care! Abandonment is a crime punishable by exile, Chwe Hanbin!”_

 _“Enough!”_ his father howls, silencing the sounds of dispute coming from both sides with his authority, forcing his mate to stand down despite her protests. She eventually joins Seungcheol at the back of the pack, picking up Hansol into her own mouth and urging for him to rejoin his father. _“Chwe Hanbin, according to the laws of the pack, your crime of abandonment should have you and your mate exiled and your pups put under the care of the Luna.”_

Hanbin’s faction snarl in dissatisfaction and Hanbin himself allows the first traces of hesitance to flash across his eyes. Standing with the support of half a pack against the head Alpha is one thing, but surviving on his own with only his mate in wolf form is another. And despite how callously he’d abandoned Hansol, Seungcheol can tell he cares deeply for his other two pups, Hanbin crouching over them and his mate protectively at his father’s words. 

Seungcheol looks towards his father and smiles internally at the strength and the regality now returned to him, driven by his need to execute justice for Hansol’s treatment. This is the Alpha he remembers thinking would always protect him when he was younger, the shell of whom he’d seen just the previous day. _“But, I am willing to offer you a deal-”_

 _“I will not bargain with you!”_ Hanbin charges forwards suddenly, jumping at his father with claws extended. Though his father is still one of the strongest Alphas Seungcheol knows, his age has slowed him and he knows that if he does _nothing_ , Chwe Hanbin will not hesitate to land a killing blow. 

So he moves. 

Seungcheol snarls and knocks Hanbin out of the air with the side of his body, his youth allowing for the superior reflexes that may very well have saved his father’s life. He dodges Hanbin’s next attack and manages to drag his claws down Hanbin’s leg, leaving a set of deep red gouges that stand out starkly against the Beta’s sandy fur. _“Stay back!”_ he warns, snapping at Hanbin’s neck to get him to move back towards his faction. Hanbin makes to jump at him again but his father stops him before he can, the most Alpha authority Seungcheol has ever heard in his voice as he demands for them to stop. 

 _“I said enough!”_ the pack leader shouts, his command strong enough to have even Seungcheol sinking down to his knees, trembling under the sheer force of it. _“From today onwards, whoever wishes to join Chwe Hanbin in his exile can leave freely, but any who do are never to return! You all have before the end of tomorrow to leave these lands, and if any of the pack catch you returning, they will have my permission to kill.”_

Chwe Hanbin picks one of his pups up by the scruff of their neck while his mate takes the other, shooting one last furtive glare towards Hansol and the pack Luna before snarling at the rest of his faction to follow him. Seungcheol stands guard at the front of his pack as the last of the other side trickles out of the clearing, growling threateningly whenever one of them make even the smallest of indications that they were going to approach. 

Once the clearing is empty of any other wolves aside from their own members, Seungcheol’s father nudges him lightly against his neck as a warning of what he’s about to do. Seungcheol has only ever witnessed one banishment in his entire life, and that had been just a single wolf. He can’t even begin to fathom the agony that will come with almost half the pac-

A sharp, searing pain cuts through his entire body, forcing him to the ground with the weight of it. The end of the string at the back of his mind has been ripped apart, fibres ripped out as his father officially removes the opposing faction from the pack. Seungcheol feels like every single nerve ending in his body is on fire, his insides sizzling and sputtering like hot coals as he pants heavily. This was why packs tried not to banish any members, just because of the terrible pain it brought to the whole of the pack. 

Remembering Hansol, Seungcheol fights his way past the agony to nuzzle the pup, heart aching the most at the sound of the young pup’s pained whimpers. He nudges at Hansol’s head and comforts the child despite the throbbing in his own limbs, curling around him with his body and  licking away the beads of tears at the corners of his eyes. 

 

* * *

  

The pack isn’t quite the same after that, his father broken after the loss of his dearest friend and other pack members in similar states of grief and mourning for their losses His mother’s eyes are dark and grave the day it comes time for Seungcheol to leave, Hansol clutched firmly in his arms as he lets himself be wrapped in her embrace and kisses be planted along his cheeks. 

“Take care, Seungcheol-ah,” she whispers to him, glancing back towards his father so quickly Seungcheol almost doesn’t catch it. His chest tightens at the sight of the forced smile on his face, not quite enough to hide the hollowness in his eyes. As the pack Alpha, the loss of so many members will be taking the hardest toll on him. 

He purses his lips, wondering if a visit from his grandchildren will do him well. It’ll be a little difficult to get all the kids in the car and not blow it up, especially now with a new werewolf pup thrown in. Little Hansol lets out a sleepy yawn and both Seungcheol and his mother smile down at him fondly, hoping the other kids will take a liking to their new brother soon. 

“I’ll come to visit soon,” he bumps noses with his mother at her request without complaint, not caring very much about how one would generally think themselves too old for that sort of thing because she’s his _mother_ for goodness sake. The kids _better_ let him still nuzzle them when they’re thirty or he’ll be very upset. 

“Bring the children next time,” she says, waving as he makes his way down the patio towards his car and settling Hansol down in the passenger seat and surrounding his small form with pillows so he doesn’t fly forward whenever Seungcheol brakes. He and his mother have been trying to pump him full of all the nutrients and fats he needs to return to the state a three year old should be, and though there hasn’t been much progress thus far, Seungcheol can see the boy growing livelier by the day. 

Jeonghan will have a field day nursing him back to health, he thinks, warmth filling his chest at the thought of his mate and children waiting for him back home. He’s been away for far longer than he’d planned, and he’s eager to get back home and see the kids. 

“Bye eomma!” he shouts out of the car window as he pulls out of the driveway, Hansol yipping along with him. As he drives past the forest where the pack had met a few days prior, Seungcheol swears he spots a large wolf with sandy fur watching him from the underbrush though it disappears the moment he blinks. 

The emptiness in his chest doesn’t, however, and Seungcheol supposes it never will. 

He can only hope that Hansol will not remember his father, no matter how terrible a wish that might be. 

 

* * *

 

“I’m home!” Seungcheol calls out, Hansol bundled tightly in his arms. “I’ve brought a surprise for you kids!” 

Were Seungcheol not a wiser man, he would have surprised his mate with Hansol too. Though, as he is, he knows very well just how Jeonghan would dismember him for it. He’d called his angel a few days ago when he’d decided to adopt Hansol into their steadily growing family, his mate as equally furious as his mother had been upon hearing about what had happened to the pup. 

Their five kids come charging up to him before he can even get both of his shoes off, nearly knocking him right off his feet as they collide with his legs. Jihoon, Mingyu, and Soonyoung sniff out Hansol in a second, the latter two a lot more excited about the ‘new puppy’ than Jihoon is. 

“ _Another_?” Jihoon says incredulously, giving Hansol a tentative sniff as Seungcheol sets him down on the ground.

Seungcheol smiles and gathers the five brothers into his arms, nuzzling into their hairs and relishing in their scents, a stark contrast to the melting pot of musky, woodsy, and flowery smells he’d been subjected to over the past week. “Sollie needs a nice home and a family to look after him, and you’ll all be good hyungs for him, won’t you? Appa is counting on you!” 

“Are you pressuring the children again, Cheollie?” Jeonghan says as he appears in front of him in a joking tone, wings out in full display with a bright smile spread across his cheeks. Seungcheol has only a second to prepare before he finds himself with a face full of angel and feathers and Jeonghan’s lips pressed firmly to his, his mate smiling into the kiss and stroking his hair. “I’ve missed you, my love.” 

“And I you,” he replies, setting him down and kissing him once again on the forehead. “Meet our new boy,” he crouches down to nudge Hansol towards the angel, the pup taking a single nervous step in his direction before whimpering and returning to Seungcheol’s side. 

“Don’t be shy, Sollie, Hannie-Appa will take care of you,” he tries to urge the pup, flailing his arms to not fall back onto his ass as Soonyoung makes a grab for the boy and Hansol jumps backwards. In an attempt to appear more intimidating, Mingyu has apparently tried to shift into a large dog with only partial success, his doberman head not quite getting the impact he’d expected what with the fluffy pom-pom that is the rest of his body. 

Wonwoo is laughing at Mingyu while Soonyoung joins in, momentarily forgetting about Hansol as he grabs Wonwoo’s hand. “Puppy!” he says conspiratorially to Wonwoo, pointing at Hansol with a grin. 

“Hansol’s not a puppy, he’s your new brother,” Jeonghan says gently, sitting down crosslegged on the floor and pulling the forlorn looking Jihoon and the (adorably) confused Chan onto his lap. 

Soonyoung gasps at this. “Am I a puppy too?” 

 _You’re all my precious puppies_ , Seungcheol wants to say, but he chooses to stay silent and watch his children play instead. Even Hansol is starting to peek out from behind him to join in on the fun, allowing Mingyu to get just a little closer than before (still in his ridiculous doberanian form) before darting off. He feels a hand cover his and he smiles, letting his fingers tangle with his mate’s as they sit in silence (though not an uncomfortable one). 

Chan ends up accidentally tripping over Hansol’s tail which scares the both of them out of their skins and ends up with a lot of crying (mainly from Soonyoung even more than Chan himself from the sheer distress of seeing his baby brother in pain). And despite Seungcheol’s desire to rush over and comfort the both of them, Jeonghan’s warning to just let them cry it out before interfering has him remaining firmly planted in his seat. 

They both know who the real Alpha in this house is after all. 

(Hint: it’s not him!) 

Though he wouldn’t have it any other way.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It is. FINALLY HERE. GOODNESS BLESS THIS WAS A STRUGGLE. This was one of the heaviest chapters I've ever written but I think it turned out rather well in the end and I really hope you all enjoyed reading it. I know a new babby has been long overdue and as I promised in the previous chapter--here's Hansol!! There isn't a lot of actual Hansol action in this as it's mainly his origin story, but I promise I'll be posting chapters afterwards so you all can get to know him more! We're getting closer and closer to Junnie's chapter and I'm very excited! <3
> 
> Been through a rough day today and I hope to be able to read some of your comments and get myself back again :'). I hope you all know I really appreciate every single comment you all leave and it really inspires me to keep on writing, so leave a comment and some kudos if you'd like and have a nice day! (or night where I am xD)


	15. Nest

**Year 4, March 1st**

**They have been dreading this day for a long time now, but it’s time for the birds to leave the nest (at least until Jeonghan picks them up at 3).**

 

“Come on, Hoonie! We’re going to be late for your first day of school!” Seungcheol calls down the hall towards the kids’ bedroom, his hands too full of a fussing Chan to walk down there himself. Not too long after he’d brought Hansol home, he and Jeonghan had quickly realised that the angel would simply not be able to handle so many kids at home by himself without Seungcheol’s help. Seeing as how there were only so many leave days Seungcheol could take from his job before his boss eventually has enough and fires him, the two of them decided to finally take his mother’s advice and enrol the older kids into their local kindergarten. 

Wonwoo had taken surprisingly well to that news, though Seungcheol supposes they could have guessed it by the nereid’s penchant for learning and knowledge. Soonyoung _had_ been extremely excited at first, bouncing around the house for days after they broke the news and telling them excitedly about meeting new friends. Though, judging by the teary eyes the young dragon-hybrid is currently sporting as he crouches beneath the dining table holding onto Jeonghan’s hand (the angel folded into a rather strange position to fit underneath as well), that excitement must have worn off. 

Chan has been fussy all morning and Mingyu had had a nervous fit over a speck of dirt on Soonyoung’s new school shorts, so needless to say a pouting Jihoon hadn’t exactly made matters any easier. 

Though admittedly, they _are_ trying to get the kids out of the house for a few hours a day so his beloved mate doesn't end up going mad from trying to juggle all of their needs along with conducting their lessons; the kids should still be exposed to other children their age before they turn into withdrawn hermits at some point anyways!

(All before the ripe age of ten!). 

Getting all the papers and school fees settled for the kids had led to quite a few all-nighters and a few overtime shifts at work (for Seungcheol’s own peace of mind that their savings wouldn’t be depleted too greatly), but he’s now come to understand that this morning is their true test. 

Getting three five-year-olds fed, cleaned, dressed, and out the door in an orderly manner— _not_ easy. 

Still seeing (and hearing) no sign of their kitsune pup, Seungcheol sets Chan down in his pen with Mingyu to occupy him and trudges down the hall. “Hoonie? We’re really gonna be late if we don’t leave in ten minutes…” he gently pushes open the door and spots Jihoon’s uniform in a discarded pile on the floor by his bed, cringing at the thought of any wrinkles but setting that thought aside for the time being. Knowing the boy well, he gets onto his knees and peers under the bed, sighing in half fondness and half exasperation at the sulking pup beneath it. 

Ordinarily, he would be fully against bribing children to do things, with both Jeonghan and himself believing that it does absolutely nothing for developing a child’s behaviour. However, with ten minutes ticking down on the clock before they _really_ have to leave, Seungcheol decides it’s a necessary evil. 

“Hoonie, if you come out and let Appa dress you for school right now, we can all have ramyeon for dinner tonight.” 

He’s hasn’t seen the kitsune move so quickly since that one time he’d caught Mingyu on the way to the washing machine with his wolf plush. 

“Promise?” Jihoon holds up a pinky for him to take once he’s shifted back to human form in all of his naked five year old glory, and despite already being able to hear his mate’s berating in his head Seungcheol takes it with a soft smile. Jihoon is surprisingly pliant as he redresses him in his uniform (with only minimal creases too!). “Where’s Hansol?” the kitsune asks once he’s all dressed, pulling sulkily at the sleeves of his jacket. 

Even with his and Jeonghan’s best efforts to teach the boy how to shift to human form (a skill that in all rights _should_ have been taught to him ages ago by his parents, Seungcheol would add), Hansol has still remained stubbornly in his wolf form for the past few weeks that he’s been living with them. There’s been quite a few messes and accidents around the house much to Jeonghan’s (and Mingyu’s) chagrin, but the boys have all taken such a fondness to the young werewolf pup that the two of them can’t even find it in themselves to discipline him. 

Every time Seungcheol looks at Hansol all he can see is that frail, starving pup he’d found in the woods, the hollowed eyes of a beloved friend-

_Happy thoughts, Seungcheol_ , he thinks, _it’s the kids’ first day of school._

“He’s out in the living room with your brothers,” Seungcheol holds onto Jihoon’s hand to lead him out, his little backpack already packed and ready to go by the door. Not that the five year old actually has a lot to carry to kindergarten, but children are always so fascinated with bags that Seungcheol just couldn’t say no when the three five-year olds had given him those big puppy eyes upon seeing the backpacks at the store.

“Appa! Hannie-Appa say it’s time to go!” Mingyu and Soonyoung chime from the living room, the younger holding a happily squirming Hansol on his lap. Wonwoo is nowhere to be seen, but judging by the absence of his mate and the light breeze wafting into the house, he supposes that Jeonghan is moving them out to the car.  

With Jihoon hanging off one hand he holds onto Soonyoung with the other, smiling fondly as the dragon hybrid keeps a firm hold onto Mingyu, who in turn has Hansol clutched in his tiny arms. Seungcheol guides their little chain of children out to the car where Jeonghan is loading the bags, Wonwoo already strapped in nicely with a book in his hands. 

He’ll have to remind him not to read in the car, lest the nereid gets himself carsick on his first day. “I tied my shoes myself, Appa!” Soonyoung exclaims, holding up his foot for Seungcheol to see. The knots are noticeably messier than when he or Jeonghan does it, but his shoes are staying on and that’s really all that matters. 

“Good job, Soonie! Why don’t you show your new classmates how to do it too at school?” he lifts Soonyoung up onto his car seat beside Wonwoo, holding onto Hansol with his free arm as the pup’s struggles grow too ferocious for Mingyu to handle. All his years of living out in nature have left Hansol unacclimatised to a life indoors, the pup desperate to return to the familiar woods whenever they step foot outside the house. 

Wonwoo pulls at the hem of his shirt with imploring blue eyes. “I tied my own shoes too, Appa,” the nereid mumbles, jiggling his feet and pouting ever so slightly. Despite the nereid’s more quiet and subdued nature compared to his brothers’, Seungcheol has come to realise that the boy enjoys praise and attention just as much as the rest of them. 

“You did well, Wonnie,” he leans in to nuzzle against the nereid’s nose, passing Hansol over to him to hold onto. “You and Soonie will help Hoonie learn to tie his shoes too, won’t you?” 

Both Wonwoo and Soonyoung nod seriously, grinning over at the kitsune despite the white-haired boy’s scowl. He and Jeonghan had tried their best to find a school with both human and Other children and teachers, not wanting the kids to feel excluded or ostracised, especially with Jihoon and Soonyoung’s very obviously Other features.  

They’d heard that the kids’ teacher was a faerie, so they were hopeful that she’d be able to look after the kids well. “Are we all ready to go?” Jeonghan pokes his head around to look at them, hair vaguely ruffled and ever so slightly damp (Chan had developed a habit of chewing on their hair as of late) but still looking like the best thing Seungcheol’s seen all day. “I know we like to be fashionably late for most things but that doesn't quite apply to children as well as it does for us.” 

“Are ya ready kids?” Seungcheol shouts as he slips into the drivers seat, glancing at the kids all nicely strapped in behind him. 

“Aye aye captain!” the boys all shout in unison (including Chan’s incomprehensible babbles and Hansol’s soft barking), starting to sing the spongebob theme song as he pulls out of the driveway. It’s a little noisy and it’s very much chaotic, but when Jeonghan places a hand over his on the gear stick he finds that he couldn’t be more grateful for it all. 

 

* * *

 

 

“Say bye to your brothers!” Jeonghan has Chan propped on his hip while Seungcheol holds onto Hansol and Mingyu, the shapeshifter waving frantically at his older brothers as the three line up together to go into their class. Soonyoung seems to have forgotten his nervousness from earlier on and is bouncing around happily, holding onto Jihoon and Wonwoo’s hands and swinging them around. 

Jeonghan can tell that the scowl on Jihoon’s face is really only there for show, judging purely by how anxiously his tail is twitching behind him and how he’s clutching onto Soonyoung’s hand even tighter than the dragon hybrid is his. 

“Bye bye, Hyungie!” Mingyu calls out, stumbling over the honorific in a way that has all the other parents around them cooing at his sheer puppy-like cuteness. 

He holds up one of Chan’s little hands in a mock wave, tickling the halfer slightly in the side to make him giggle. “Bye!” Chan exclaims suddenly, the word getting caught on his tongue a little in his excitement but still sounding exceptionally adorable. A quick glance over at his husband has him grinning at the sheer pride on the werewolf’s face, and he can only hope and pray that he won’t start bawling at the sheer magnitude of this moment in the kids’ lives and embarrass them for the rest of their kindergarten years. 

Soonyoung is clinging onto Wonwoo’s hand so tightly the nereid’s translucent skin is actually starting to turn a little purple from lack of blood circulation, however the latter is giving no signs of complaint. Wonwoo is gripping onto the strap of his little blue backpack, sea-green eyes darting about the horde of fresh faces he’s found himself surrounded by nervously. The three of them are sat on a colourful mat in the centre of the classroom, their classmates sitting in similar positions all around them. 

Their new class teacher seems like a sweet lady, a little on the younger side but both he and his mate find no issue with that. It’s usually the older generation that still carry the old beliefs against Others, so having a fresh, new mind teaching the kids will probably do them some good. It’d been such a relief not getting any stares (or glares) from the other parents as the two of them walked in with their brood, and Jeonghan had even spotted a few tails and ears himself on some of the other children. 

“Okay, time to introduce yourselves!” the petite faerie teacher calls out to Wonwoo, Jihoon and Soonyoung, gesturing for the three of them to come to the front of the class. Jeonghan snorts quietly to himself as Jihoon’s haunches immediately go up, the kitsune apparently not finding that an amusing suggestion whatsoever. Wonwoo looks over at him and Seungcheol imploringly, eyes pleading for some help. 

“Go on,” he mouths to the three kids, readjusting Chan in his arms as the halfer yawns and stretches. Soonyoung eventually stands up first, holding onto both of his brothers and dragging them along behind him as we walks up to the faerie. Her wings flutter in a twinkle of cascading sparkly dust as she pats each of the boys on the head, earning herself a happy preen from Jihoon and Soonyoung and an awkward smile from Wonwoo. 

Hansol yips loudly at the sight of a yellow butterfly landing on the windowsill of the classroom just as Jihoon is giving his mumbled introduction to the class, and Jihoon glares over at the werewolf pup with utter betrayal in his silvery eyes for stealing his moment. A few of the other mothers begin to coo over the pup at his cuteness, and Jeonghan figures Seungcheol should take the restless pup for a walk as he notices the blooming redness in the tips of Jihoon’s little ears. 

There’s only a brief moment of scuffle as Seungcheol tries to exit the classroom as discretely as possible without causing a fuss before the students are clapping for his three eldest boys, their teacher giving them each a gold star sticker as a reward for doing so well in introductions. Jeonghan nods in approval at this; it’s always good to get some sort of a reward system going, keeps the kids competitive and striving for improvement yanno. 

“Okay mummies and daddies, it’s time for you all to go home now so I can start lessons,” the faerie teacher says, pushing the door open with a wave of a hand and sparkles bursting from her fingertips. “Come back at 3 to pick them up, or call the school in advance if you’re gonna be late so we can get the kids into afterschool daycare!” she smiles at them sweetly as the parents reluctantly say their last goodbyes and pile out the door. 

The three boys come running up to him one last time and hugging him around his legs, the sheer force of them making him stumble ever so slightly. The muscles in his back flex as his body instinctually attempts to bat his wings to keep his balance, though the lack of any other white winged brethren in the room keeps them firmly hidden beneath his glamour. 

“Love you boys, tell me all about the wonderful day you had when Cheollie-Appa and I come to pick you up later, okay?” he says to them, ruffling Jihoon’s hair one last time while Mingyu attempts to hug the life out of Wonwoo. “Be good for Seonsaengnim alright.” 

Seungcheol is pouting outside the door once Jeonghan finally managed to pry Soonyoung off of Chan and exit the classroom, his hair disheveled and a fresh scratch that’s already starting to heal along the side of his neck. Hansol is wild and thrashing furiously in his arms, trying to get at every single family passing by despite Seungcheol’s firm hold on him. “I didn’t get to say goodbye…” Seungcheol sulks, metaphorical puppy ears drooping. 

A quick glance behind them through the window of the classroom gives them what could possibly be the most accurate representation of their kids he’s ever seen. 

Soonyoung has clambered onto the fae teacher’s back, red and gold wings flapping happily as his pudgy little arms wrap themselves tightly around her neck. Wonwoo is sitting obediently on the mat even as sheer chaos descends around him, the other children roaring and playing in delight while the nereid gets out his book and pencil from his bag. Jihoon is snarling at some of the human children attempting to play with his tail, the fluffy white appendage clutched protectively to his chest. 

Jeonghan feels his chest feel with affection and adoration, and he guesses that the emotion is a mixture of his own and Chan’s as the halfer grins at his older brothers happily. He feels Mingyu tugging at his hand for some affection too, the shapeshifter popping out his go-to beagle ears and whining. 

“Let’s go home, shall we?” he says as he takes Mingyu’s tiny little hand in his own, Hansol barking in reply as if he’d understood what he’d said. Jeonghan feels the familiar itch of frustration at the boy’s wolf state, not quite able to figure out exactly what he’s been doing wrong for the boy to _still_ be unable to shift to human form. 

He’d thought that the new kids would just be smooth sailing ever since Jihoon (he still has nightmares sometimes about looking under their sofa), but thus far Hansol seems to attempting to best his older brother’s record of most difficult initiation. In the past week alone, the werewolf pup has ripped up four of their throw cushions, broken two plates and one bowl, _almost_ smashed one of the heirloom glasses they’d gotten from Seungcheol’s parents for a wedding present, _and_ peed almost every carpet in the house before they’d gotten the hint and had them all put away for the time being. 

It was honestly rather headache inducing, and it had just served to push him to go ahead with their plans to send the kids to kindergarten so Jeonghan could figure out just how to get Hansol to behave without the other kids needing for attention as well. He finishes up with strapping Chan and Mingyu into their carseats in the backseat while his husband wrestles Hansol into the car, panting and looking ever so slightly flushed once Jeonghan gets into the passenger seat and takes Hansol off his hands. 

Despite Hansol’s wildness and brute strength that the pup has yet to learn how to fully control, the aura hovering around his small form is a mixture of forest greens and yellows, representing playfulness and happiness and healing. Hansol calms down a little once the car is moving, nudging his little wet nose into Jeonghan’s palm to try and get him to scratch his ears. 

It’s moments like these that has Jeonghan unable to be truly vexed with the boy, knowing it’s not the pup’s fault that his parents never taught him the things they should have. He leans down to press a kiss to the top of the werewolf’s head, breathing in the lingering scent of the woods on his fur that he hopes will never truly fade.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I HAVE RETURNNEEDDDDDDD!!! I'm so so sorry for my super long hiatus and I hope you'll all find it in your hearts to forgive me :') I've been working the grind studying for my AS exams and I finally have a bit of a break to be able to write and post this chapter! This is just a short in between chapter before I get to the conclusion of Hansol's arc, but I hope it'll be enough to feed my hungry readers a little before I can get the next chapter up! 
> 
> Thank you so much for all the love and support you've all been constantly giving since my hiatus and I just wanted to let you all know that I really appreciate it all and I really appreciate you <3 
> 
> Hope you enjoyed this little chapter, and as always, leave some kudos and a review if you'd like, it really spurs me on to get the next chapter up as soon as possible!


	16. UPDATE

HI.

It's been many many months, I know, and I'm sorry. Firstly I'd like to take the time to apologise. 

Before any of you readers jump to conclusions, no I'm not discontinuing this fanfic because I truly love the characters and heck I haven't even introduced my baby and love Jun yet so how could I possibly drop it like it's hot and run?? So, I'd like to give an explanation for my many months of absence. 

Last year I know I promised to post more chapters since my trial exams for my AS were over, but turns out, I needed to continue my studying for my actual AS too. Who knew haha. But the studying paid off and I got straight A's (woohoo) and I'm at a place now where I'm still studying but I do have a bit of free time here and there to post more. 

I have one more Hansol chapter in the works now and then it'll be onto Seungkwan!! (Just to get everyone excited). I'm currently halfway writing a psychology paper but once I'm done I PROMISE I'll dive right into writing and post it as soon as I can! 

I've kept you all waiting for too long. I'm really really really sorry :( 

Love you all <3 

 

P.S. Have you all heard Home, my wig was snatched and is this the humidity of the air on my face or tears who knows. 

P.P.S. If any of you have recently finished your AS or A2 too, how did you all do! I'm eager to meet fellow A-Level sufferers :)   
  
SEE YOU ALL SOON!


	17. Time

**Year 4, April 20th**

**It's finally time.**

 

“Hansol!” Jeonghan shouts just as Hansol lifts his leg to mark on the base of the sofa (where, he might add, there is already a faint yellow stain from the previous time he’d marked). Hansol startles from the sudden loud noise and drops his leg, a puddle of urine forming around his feet and soaking into his fur.

Jeonghan is about two seconds away from yanking out his own hair at this point, frustration bubbling so furiously in his belly that he can actually feel the piping hot pricks of it at the corners of his eyes. It’s been almost two months and they still haven’t managed to get Hansol to shift to human form at all, the boy remaining stubbornly in Werewolf form despite their best efforts. Seungcheol has tried all sorts of methods, ranging from bringing the boy on runs in the nearby park to tire him out, to resorting to the basic techniques they usually teach the pups when going through their first shift, but to no avail.

Not for the first time, Jeonghan wonders if they’re just going to be taking care of a wolf pup forever.

The odour of urine wafts into his nose and he cringes, knowing that the moment Mingyu catches even a whiff of it that the shapeshifter is going to have a nervous breakdown. Seungcheol is busy getting ready for work as well as bathing Soonyoung and Wonwoo (the former having made quite the mess at breakfast, and the latter having tried to help clean it up) for school. The only kid present in the living room is Jihoon, with both Mingyu and Chan still sleeping soundly in the nursery.

“Jihoonie, watch Hansollie for a minute for me?” he sighs, resolvedly getting up and moving towards their cleaning supply cabinet to retrieve the cleaning spray and paper towels. Jihoon, despite the brief flash of annoyance in his gaze at having been disturbed during his playtime, gets up and beckons Hansol over. 

There are only two people in the house that Hansol truly listens to: Seungcheol, and, not to anyones’ surprise, Jihoon. Jeonghan will occasionally spare himself a moment to wonder if it’s a result of the kitsune’s base canine attributes, or if it’s simply due to Jihoon’s naturally terrifying dominance, but as long as there’s someone that Hansol will obey, Jeonghan can’t be bothered to spare the extra few braincells required to figure it out.

At least the sofa isn’t stained again.

The smell of Hansol’s pee is all but masked by the chemically sweet smell of the ‘lemon and sea-salt’ cleaning spray they use by the time Soonyoung and Wonwoo come running out of the bath in various states of dress, a rather haggard looking Seungcheol following right after. While Wonwoo is an absolute delight to bathe, the same can’t really be said for Soonyoung whose constant buzzing hyperactivity in combination with a rapidly developing pair of wings can lead to quite the struggle to actually get him clean.

His husband presses a kiss into the top of his head as he passes, a mumbled “morning, love,” accompanying it. He fixes a soft smile across his cheeks, determinedly not allowing even a crack of the clawing stress building inside him to show through.

“Sorry for making you bathe the boys, I just needed to get the dishes—“ he starts, glancing up at the clock; Seungcheol’s gonna have to fight the traffic to get to work on time.

Seungcheol effectively shuts him up with a firm kiss on his lips. “Hey, hey, hey, we’re in this together, remember? It’s okay to share house duties with me, you don’t have to take everything onto yourself.”

Despite the sincerity in his husband’s words, the tense coil of anxiety in the pit of his belly refuses to unwind. “I know, Seungcheol-ah, you’ve always been too good to me,” he breathes, turning his gaze to the floor. A strand of light brown hair falls over his face, tickling the tip of his nose. His hair is starting to get far too long again, though he just hasn’t been able to find the time to visit his regular hairdresser to get it trimmed. He’d trim it himself if he didn’t know his manager would strangle him for it.

Calloused fingers brush away the hair and tuck it back behind his ear, and Jeonghan finally lifts his head to meet his love’s warm eyes, the way the werewolf looks at him not having changed from when they were still in high school. Wolves are known to mate for life, and Seungcheol is no different.

“You deserve it all and then some,” Seungcheol says, kissing him one last time before grabbing his bag and moving towards the door. “I won’t be back too late today, I think I’ll be able to make it for dinner.”

Jeonghan smiles, albeit a little weaker than normal. “Good, I’ll be sure to make your favourite, then.” 

The five year olds are all lined up obediently behind Seungcheol, backpacks already on and shoes messily tied. It hadn’t taken long for the three to adjust to school and their new friends, so now getting them ready for school in the mornings is nowhere near the war it had been that first day. Though, Jihoon does have his moods occasionally, but Jeonghan supposes something needs to keep life interesting after all. 

Seungcheol only grins cheekily, the dimples that Jeonghan absolutely adores appearing on his cheeks. “You still can’t beat my mother!” he calls back one last time before he shuts the door, the sound of the car engine roaring to life following not long after. It is true: no matter how hard Jeonghan has tried, he still hasn’t managed to pry the recipe for Seungcheol’s favourite Japchae dish out of his mother-in-law, the woman swearing utmost secrecy until the day she dies. Though he sincerely hopes that day will not come anytime soon, he seriously needs to get that recipe!

Without the three five year olds around, the house suddenly seems a lot quieter than it did just a few minutes prior, and Jeonghan allows himself a moment to release a soft sigh of relief. Hansol isn’t anywhere to be seen but he isn’t worried, Seungcheol would have caught him if he’d tried to make a break for the door, so the werewolf pup must be in the house somewhere causing some form of mischief again. 

The door to the nursery is closed so he can’t go in and wake Chan up, which Jeonghan can only feel endless relief about. Chan had gone through one of his sessions the previous night which had kept most of the kids up (except Mingyu and Soonyoung, who both slept through the ruckus like logs), and Jeonghan had only gotten the halfer to relax and sleep just a few hours before daybreak. If Chan were awoken now he’d be cranky all day and Jeonghan simply does not have the energy to deal with a fussing toddler and a werewolf cub that simply _refuses_ to behave.

He plops down on the sofa to catch his breath, distinctly aware of the greasiness of his hair hanging limply against his cheeks. It’s getting long, he thinks to himself, wondering when exactly he’ll be able to find the time to get it trimmed before his agent throws a fit about how unkempt he looks. He’s missed out on so many possible gigs ever since Hansol came to live with them, simply not being able to get away for even a moment with the wild pup running amok.

He can’t really help but feel a seed of resentment about it, though he hates himself for even thinking it.

Jeonghan grabs at his phone and scrolls through his Instagram feed for a moment, planning to fully take advantage of the few brief moments of peace he’s been allowed. Though, it’s only after a solid five minutes of silence that he realises something is wrong.

It’s too quiet.

_Where is Hansol?_

 

* * *

 

After dropping the kids off at kindergarten and ending up a few minutes late to work because their cute little faces just _needed_ kisses, Seungcheol is proud to say he’s only _slightly_ out of breath by the time he plops down in his cubicle. (Just as his boss walks by and gives him a slight nod in approval at his being on time too!) He spends a moment sorting out his desk and rearranging his miscellaneous bits and bobs (at least 80% of which being pictures of and drawings by the kids), seeing as how the cleaning lady has been by recently and has moved his things around as she always does. 

Seungcheol pauses for a moment as he picks up a recent picture of their little (though steadily growing) family, taken in their backyard not long after he’d brought Hansol home. The wolf pup is squirming furiously in Mingyu’s arms as the shapeshifter attempts to carry him for the picture, Jihoon looking over at the commotion in what Seungcheol can only describe as distaste while Soonyoung and Wonwoo hold hands as they always do, grinning widely at the camera. Chan is gnawing happily on Jeonghan’s hair as the angel carries him, Seungcheol’s own arm wrapped tightly around his mate’s waist to hold him close while he looks lovingly down at his kids. Despite the commotion occurring in the front row, Seungcheol still can’t help but love this picture, the very essence of their family of mismatching characters captured absolutely perfectly in this moment in time.

Fondness filling his heart, Seungcheol replaces the photo in its original spot right beside where his laptop usually goes. He should be getting to work, lest his boss make another surprise visit and see him mooning over his lovely family instead of doing what he’s being paid for. As he reaches for his work bag to get out his laptop, his reaching hand pauses midair as the bag seems to shake ever so slightly. Had one of the kids moving toys manage to sneak its way in?

He reaches for the bag once more, stopping just short yet again as the bag jerks about more violently this time, accompanied by an ever so quiet whimper.

Oh _hell_ no.

A quick unzip of his bag confirms his worst fear.

Hansol is _in his bag_.

Before the pup can even think about jumping out, Seungcheol quickly closes the bag and darts for the bathroom, hoping beyond hope that his boss doesn’t come by while he’s sorting out this little _situation_. He checks that the coast is clear in the mens bathroom before sliding in, setting his bag on the sink counter and releasing the werewolf pup inside. His boss will absolutely slaughter him if he finds out he brought not only his _son_ but an _untrained werewolf pup_ to work with him, and that will just mean losing his job and being unable to care for said pup as well as the rest of his adorable babies.

His phone rings before he even has the chance to fish it out of his pocket to call his mate.

“Cheol! I can’t find Hansol anywhere! I checked all the rooms and under the bed and the couch and-“ Jeonghan shrills into the phone, his voice breathless and panicked. 

“Hannie, Hansol is with me, one of the kids must have stuffed him in my work bag as a joke,” he whispers, focusing his werewolf senses on detecting if anyone was making their way towards the bathroom. Hansol sticks his little nose out of the bag and sniffs the air, immediately withdrawing back into the dark confines of the canvas as his sensitive nose picks up on the thick scent of floor cleaner and ammonia in the air.

Jeonghan lets out a sound that he would have thought a sob if he didn’t know his mate so well. “I’ll be there in 10 minutes, do not let him run away,” his husband says simply before hanging up the phone, leaving Seungcheol to question exactly how his mate is going to make a twenty-five minute drive in ten.

A cold nose nudges against his fingers and a tongue licks at his palm for comfort, the little werewolf pup completely out of his element in this strange new environment he’s found himself in. Seungcheol feels a wave of pity wash over him for Hansol, barely even three years old and already having gone through more than some full-grown adults ever will. He leans down to rub his nose against his son’s, the gesture a comfort to any werewolf, big or small.

“Sollie, you have to be good for Hannie-Appa, okay? He’s not like you and me, he doesn’t know what you want sometimes because he doesn’t understand you,” he says softly to the pup, “you have to learn to shift to your human form so Hannie-Appa can take proper care of you.”

Hansol whines in protest at this, retreating further into the bag. “I know it’s scary and you’ve never done it before, but we all love you very very much and you don’t need to be scared,” Seungcheol’s voice cracks as he finally realises what’s been holding Hansol back from shifting. “We’ll never _ever_ abandon you, Sollie, we’ll always be with you from now on, I promise.”

The pup’s large, dark brown eyes stare intently into his own, as if searching the very depths of his soul for the sincerity of his words. Seungcheol remembers the frailty of the boy when he’d first found him that day in the woods; the jutting of bone beneath dehydrated skin, the lolling tongue and desperate eyes. His body has since been filled with food, enough that his fur is shining and Seungcheol can feel a layer of puppy fat beneath his hands whenever he picks the boy up. But his eyes remain the same, still haunted, still frightened.

Seungcheol can only hope they won’t be forever.

Hansol gives his palm one last lick before Seungcheol makes his way down to the lobby with Hansol hidden soundly in his bag. His mate is standing at the receptionists’ desk with Chan in his arms and Mingyu clinging to his leg, the furious determination in his posture making him look 5 seconds away from demanding entrance into the building through sheer force alone.

Thankfully he spots Seungcheol before he does, and they discreetly exchange possession of the werewolf pup before anyone is any the wiser.

They even risk a _kiss_ before Jeonghan is off and Seungcheol really needs to get back to work. His boss has noticed his absence, and upon questioning Seungcheol can only explain that he had to answer an extremely desperate call from nature, _if he knows what he means_. There’s a raised eyebrow or two but ultimately his boss doesn’t raise further questions, leaving Seungcheol to his work and his thoughts.

Unsurprisingly, he finds he can’t focus on his computer screen at all, his gaze continually drifting back to the picture he’s propped up beside it instead.

 

Later that night he’s awoken by the sound of crying, though not the same pained sobs from Chan he’s come to know far too well for his own liking. Instead they come from his own mate, the angel clutching tightly at his arm as tears stream down his face at the sight of the little brown haired boy snuggled soundly in between their bodies, naked as the day he was born.

Or perhaps, he might say, the night Hansol shifted for the time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> LOOK WHO'S BACKKKKK. Finally finished this chapter since I'm finally on holiday for Chinese New Year!! Who else celebrates CNY and tell me down below how you all typically celebrate this lovely time of year :) This chapter is a little short but I thought it was a nice way to end Hansol's arc and finally move on to our next babbie. To all of those who left lovely supportive reviews on my update, thank you all so so much for the love, it really gave me the power I needed to finish this chapter <3
> 
> Hope you all enjoyed this little snippet and ending of Hansol's arc and look forward to Seungkwan's up next!


	18. UPDATE 2.0

Hello. It's me.

You might be wondering: Huh? Didn't you just post like two days ago, why are you writing another update? 

But I come bearing good news (depends on how you look at it I guess)!

I have written a spin-off to this main fic based on the kid's backstories to give you all a little more insight into how and why the kids came to stay with Jeongcheol!!! The first chapter is now up and it's about the night Jihoon came to stay with Jeongcheol and do check it out!

It's under the series Jeongcheol's Home for Supernatural Children so it's really easy to find. It's full of angst for all you angst lovers out there so have a look and tell me what you all think and if you want to see more! Thanks for all the support on the latest chapter <3

Love you all <3

**Author's Note:**

> I came to the very terrible realisation that there weren't enough kid seventeen fics circling about the old web so I decided to write my own. But obviously I couldn't keep it sweet and simple so we have this spiralling mess. This is my first fic posted in this fandom but I am a long veteran reader so let's all get along friends. 
> 
> Warnings:  
> \- this will include cute fluffy little seventeen babies in a way that might or might not make you die from cuteness who knows  
> \- be prepared
> 
> Tags will be added as more kids are introduced ;) 
> 
> Enjoy~


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